Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Ubu katana signed by Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa, late Muromachi, with a gunome-chōji hamon in nioi-deki according to the original seller, and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers.
Katana signed 若狭守藤原氏房作 (Wakasa no Kami Fujiwara Ujifusa saku), the work of Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa, a smith of the Seki school who, according to the original seller, received the title Wakasa no Kami in 1570, worked in the Genki and Tenshō eras and later settled in Owari. The original seller places the blade in late Muromachi, around the Tenshō era. Shinogi-zukuri blade with iori-mune, 74.3 cm nagasa and 1.35 cm sori, 3.07 cm motohaba and 0.76 cm motokasane. According to the original seller, the jigane is a tightly forged itame with fine ji-nie, and the hamon a gunome-chōji midare in nioi-deki with ko-nie and a bright nioiguchi; the bōshi runs in midare and turns back round. The tang is ubu, with a kurijiri tip, sujikai yasurime and a single mekugi-ana, as the photographs show. It is kept in shirasaya with a gilt, textured habaki; there is no mounting. It comes with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers issued in 2023.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers (2023)
- Ubu tang with full signature and a single mekugi-ana
- Gunome-chōji hamon in nioi-deki, according to the original seller
- Long, well-proportioned blade: 74.3 cm nagasa and 3.07 cm motohaba
Points to bear in mind
- No mounting: the blade is offered in shirasaya only.
- The listing does not state the condition of the blade or when it was polished.
- The blade is undated; the attribution to around the Tenshō era is the original seller's.
Score
85.3 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin +25
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+15
74.3 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+10.3
Price: the more affordable, the more points +10.3
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
- 74.3 cm
- Sori
- 1.4 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- Tenshō era (1573–1592)
- Province
- Owari
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,07 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,3 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,76 cm