Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shinshintō katana of 75.5 cm from the Shimosaka line after its move to Chikushū, with an ubu tang and one mekugi-ana, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, shirasaya and a restrained koshirae.
The signature on this katana, Chikushū-jū Fujiwara Shimosaka Kanenobu, points to the Shimosaka school, founded by the first Yasutsugu in the late Muromachi period and formally moved to Kitanoshō, in Echizen, by Yūki Hideyasu, son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The school rose to prominence with Echizen Yasutsugu, who was granted the privilege of using the aoi-mon, the Tokugawa mallow crest. The “Chikushū-jū” of the signature shows that this smith was already working in Chikuzen and Chikugo, in present-day Fukuoka, where the tradition had since spread. The NBTHK dates the blade to the shinshintō period (1781-1876) without narrowing it further. It measures 75.5 cm nagasa with 1.4 cm sori. The photographs show a sound tang with a single mekugi-ana and no sign of shortening. It comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate, a shirasaya and a koshirae of restrained design.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- 75.5 cm nagasa: an imposing blade
- Sound ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana, confirmed in the photographs
- Signature of the Shimosaka line, the school of Echizen Yasutsugu
- Shirasaya included alongside a plainly finished koshirae
Points to bear in mind
- The certificate dates the blade no more closely than the shinshintō period (1781-1876): nearly a century of latitude
- The signature carries no date
- The mounting is described but not dated
Score
112.4 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
−5
The original seller declares flaws 0 · small kitae-ware, away from the edge −5
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−10
Mounting that is not the blade’s original −5 · new sageo −5
-
Blade
+15
75.5 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+22.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +22.4
The score adds and subtracts points for each feature of the piece and has no ceiling: the highest in the catalogue today is 255. It is computed from the record, not from an opinion. The mounting starts from what is known of its period, adds what vouches for it (its own NBTHK paper, a signed fitting, a crest) and subtracts what has been restored (saya, ito, same, habaki or sageo).
Measurements
- Nagasa
- 75.5 cm
- Sori
- 1.4 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting that is not the blade’s original
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Shimosaka Kanenobu
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- Between 1781 and 1876
- Province
- Chikushū (Fukuoka)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Minor flaws declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
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