Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Ubu, signed katana by Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro of the Hizen Tadayoshi house, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers, a shirasaya with sayagaki and a black-lacquer aogai koshirae.
Katana signed by Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro, second head of the Hizen Tadayoshi house in Hizen province, early Edo period; he received the title of Ōmi Daijō in Kan'ei 18 (1641). The shinogi-zukuri blade measures 76.6 cm in nagasa with 1.2 cm of sori and keeps its ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana, signed on the omote 肥前國住近江大掾藤原忠廣 (Hizen no Kuni-jū Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara Tadahiro). According to the original seller, the jigane is a tightly packed konuka-hada and the hamon a custom-order gunome-midare, unusual for a smith known for his suguha, with chōji-ashi, sunagashi and kinsuji; the photographs show a regular, undulating gunome hamon and a recent polish. The NBTHK awarded it Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken in 2012, and the origami appears in the photographs. It comes with a shirasaya bearing a sayagaki the original seller attributes to Satō Kanzan, and with a koshirae described as a period mounting: black-lacquer saya sprinkled with aogai, maki-same hilt, pierced iron tsuba with pine and plum in gold, dragon menuki and gilt fuchi-kashira.
Strong points
- Signed ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper (2012), photographed
- Gunome-midare hamon, unusual for this smith according to the original seller
- Shirasaya with a sayagaki attributed to Satō Kanzan
- Complete koshirae with black-lacquer aogai saya and pierced tsuba with gold
Points to bear in mind
- The original seller declares a patch of black rust of about 16 mm near the mune-machi.
- The seller presents the koshirae as a period mounting but does not date it or state that it was made for this blade.
- In the photographs the saya lacquer, the ito and the sageo look very fresh, suggesting a recent restoration.
Score
119.5 pointscurrent max. 255
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Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
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Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin +25
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Declared condition
−10
The original seller declares flaws 0 · black rust (kuro-sabi) −20 · recent polish +10
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Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
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Mounting
+15
Antique mounting, from another period than the blade +35 · relacquered saya −10 · rewrapped ito −5 · new sageo −5
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Blade
+15
76.6 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
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Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
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Price
+4.5
Price: the more affordable, the more points +4.5
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
- 76.6 cm
- Sori
- 1.2 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Ōmi Daijō Tadahiro
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Early Edo, after Kan'ei 18 (1641)
- Province
- Hizen
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Recent polish declared by the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,3 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,28 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,74 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,58 cm
- Blade weight
- 880 g
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