Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Bizen Osafune, Genroku era: kikumon and the character ichi before the signature, a horimono with the Heart Sutra formula, 2.7 cm of sori and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Kawachi no Kami Sukesada was one of the leading names of the Osafune school in the shintō period; he received the title of Kawachi no Kami in the fifth month of 1701 and places before his signature the sixteen-petal chrysanthemum followed by the character ichi, the kiku-ichimonji mark of the Yokoyama family. The blade measures 66.4 cm of nagasa with 2.7 cm of sori, a very deep curve, and 2.81 cm of motohaba, giving a slender outline. The hada is a tight ko-itame with faint utsuri and the hamon a deliberately restrained suguha-chō, in keeping with what distinguishes this blade: a horimono carved with the formula “Maka Hannya Haramita”, from the Heart Sutra, beside a motif of bamboo and plum. The photographs show a sound tang with kurijiri, even patina, a single mekugi-ana and a crisply cut kikumon. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers; supplied with an Edo-period koshirae with kawari-nuri saya and with a shirasaya.
Strong points
- Sixteen-petal kikumon and the character ichi before the signature: the Yokoyama kiku-ichimonji mark
- Horimono with the Heart Sutra formula, bamboo and plum
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana, per the photographs
- Sori of 2.7 cm: a very deep curve
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, with koshirae and shirasaya
- Osafune school of Bizen
Points to bear in mind
- At 66.4 cm of nagasa it falls below the usual length for a katana
- The signature carries no date
- The original seller does not describe the fittings of the mounting
- The horimono cannot be read in the available photographs: a close-up is worth requesting
Score
141.7 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
+50
Mounting from the same period as the blade +50
-
Blade
0
66.4 cm: outside the usable range 0
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+21.7
Price: the more affordable, the more points +21.7
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
- 66.4 cm
- Sori
- 2.7 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Genroku era (c. 1701)
- Province
- Bizen Osafune
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 2.81cm
- Motokasane
- 0.6cm
- Sakihaba
- 1.74cm
- Sakikasane
- 0.46cm
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