Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
A broad, robust katana by Hida no Kami Ujifusa from around the Keichō era, signed, published in the Shintō Taikan and with Tokubetsu Hozon papers according to the original seller.
Katana by Hida no Kami Ujifusa, a Seki-school smith born in Mino and later established in Owari, whom the original seller counts, alongside Sagami no Kami Masatsune and Hōki no Kami Nobutaka, among the three great masters of Owari, dating the blade to around the Keichō era (1596–1615); the seller also lists him as wazamono. The blade measures 71.66 cm in nagasa with 1.67 cm of sori, and is very wide (3.33 cm at the base, 2.39 cm at the tip), with a thick kasane and an extended kissaki. The photographs show bō-hi with soe-hi on both sides and a notare hamon mixed with gunome. According to the original seller, the jigane is a well-forged itame mixed with mokume and masame, with abundant ji-nie and chikei, and the hamon shows kinsuji and sunagashi, with a deeply tempered bōshi and a long turn-back. The tang, slightly shortened yet almost ubu according to the seller, retains the signature 飛騨守藤原氏房 (Hida no Kami Fujiwara no Ujifusa) and two mekugi-ana, one of them plugged. It comes with a gold-foiled double habaki and a shirasaya declared by the seller. It holds NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, according to the original seller, and is published in the Shintō Taikan.
Strong points
- Crisp signature 飛騨守藤原氏房 (Hida no Kami Fujiwara no Ujifusa) on the tang
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, according to the original seller
- Published in the Shintō Taikan
- Very wide blade with a thick kasane, bō-hi and soe-hi on both sides
- Gold-foiled double habaki
Points to bear in mind
- No koshirae: offered in shirasaya only, declared by the seller and not photographed.
- Slightly shortened tang (suriage), with one plugged mekugi-ana.
- The papers do not appear in the photographs.
- The listing does not explicitly state the condition of the blade.
Score
46.7 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
−20
Shortened tang (suriage) −20
-
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
+10
71.7 cm: within the usable range +10
-
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
- 71.7 cm
- Sori
- 1.7 cm
- Tang
- Shortened tang (suriage)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Hida no Kami Ujifusa
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Keichō era (1596–1615)
- Province
- Mino
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,33 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,39 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,70 cm
- Shinogi-kasane
- 0,76 cm