Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
A late-Muromachi kotō of the Kaga Darani school, with a kuro-rō-nuri koshirae commissioned specifically for this blade and three photographed documents.
Katsuie of Kaga is held to be a son of Echizen Chiyozuru Kunitsugu, of the Rai Kuniyasu line; he moved to Kaga around the Ōei era (1394) and founded the Kaga Darani school, which in the Edo period enjoyed Maeda patronage until the end of the shogunate. The blade, signed 勝家 (Katsuie), is heavily shortened but keeps a good outline, with a clear difference between moto and saki: 67.7 cm nagasa, 1.3 cm sori, 29.8 mm motohaba and 6.9 mm motokasane; it weighs 696 g bare and 938 g mounted. The hada is ko-itame with mokume, finely worked and tight; the hamon a ko-notare with gunome, a clear nioiguchi and fine nie along the edge, with one gunome hardened at the level of the yokote; the bōshi is straight with a rounded tip. The tang is ō-suriage and carries five mekugi-ana, plainly visible in the photographs. Three documents accompany it: NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon dated 22 August 2025, a 正真刀 (shōshin-tō) certificate from the Tōken Kenkyū Rengōkai, and a third paper with oshigata. The uchigatana koshirae, in black rō-nuri lacquer, was commissioned by a collector specifically for this blade: navy ito over same, gilt menuki, a dark oval tsuba with plum and gold detail, two sets of gilt seppa and a plated suaka habaki with relief carving. Shirasaya and tsunagi included.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon (22 August 2025), plus a Tōken Kenkyū Rengōkai certificate
- Kuro-rō-nuri koshirae commissioned specifically for this blade
- Late-Muromachi kotō of the Kaga Darani school
- Oval tsuba with plum and gold detail; relief-carved habaki
- Good balance in hand and condition described as very good; 938 g mounted
- Shirasaya and tsunagi included
Points to bear in mind
- Ō-suriage tang with five mekugi-ana
- The original seller warns that the tsuba rattles
- The signature carries no date
- Nagasa of 67.7 cm, at the lower limit of katana length
Score
89.4 pointscurrent max. 255
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Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
−70
Greatly shortened tang (ō-suriage) −40 · 3 extra mekugi-ana −30
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
+75
Mounting made for this blade +75
-
Blade
+5
67.7 cm: close to the usable range +5
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+29.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +29.4
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
- 67.7 cm
- Sori
- 1.3 cm
- Tang
- Greatly shortened tang (ō-suriage)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting made to fit the blade
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Kashū Katsuie
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- Late Muromachi period
- Province
- Kaga
- Mekugi-ana
- 5
- Paper date
- 22 August 2025
- Condition
- With a warning from the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 29.8 mm
- Motokasane
- 6.9 mm
- Sakihaba
- monouchi 23.0 mm · yokote 19.5 mm
- Sakikasane
- monouchi 5.3 mm · matsuba 4.1 mm
- Blade weight
- 696 g desnuda · 938 g montada
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