Kantei

NH-0056 Rank 124

Hizen Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro

Hizen shintō with a single mekugi-ana and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, in a koshirae with a square nanban tsuba of pierced dragon and gold-highlighted nō-prop fuchi-kashira.

Shintō (1596-1780)Edo periodHizen (Saga)NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro is the name that followed the first Tadayoshi at the head of the Hizen school in Saga province, and much of the house's seventeenth-century output is signed with it. This blade measures 68.48 cm of nagasa with 1.67 cm of sori. The tang retains a single mekugi-ana and the signature bears no date. The blade holds NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers. The mounting deserves attention of its own: a square nanban tsuba with a pierced dragon, an imported fitting uncommon in a Japanese koshirae; iron fuchi-kashira carved with nō theatre implements picked out in gold; menuki in the form of a jūmonji-yari; and a saya lacquered in glossy black. No shirasaya is included, so the blade can only be kept inside its mounting until one is commissioned.

Strong points

  • Ōmi Daijō Tadahiro, the great Hizen name after the first Tadayoshi
  • A single mekugi-ana
  • Square nanban tsuba with a pierced dragon
  • Iron fuchi-kashira with nō theatre implements picked out in gold
  • NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers

Points to bear in mind

  • No shirasaya is included
  • The signature carries no date
  • Neither the state of the tang nor the blade's preservation is stated

Score breakdown

47.2/100

The score shares out 100 points: Signature and date 18 · Tang 22 · Mounting 18 · Declared condition 20 · Blade 8 · Shirasaya 4 · Price 10. 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).

  1. Signature and date 10 of 18 Signed, with no engraved date
  2. Tang 16 of 22 Tang not declared, with a single mekugi-ana
  3. Mounting 0 of 18 Modern mounting
  4. Declared condition 11 of 20 Condition not declared
  5. Blade 6 of 8 68.5 cm: close to the usable range
  6. Shirasaya 0 of 4 No shirasaya: one will have to be made
  7. Price 4.2 of 10 Rank 81 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest