Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Bakumatsu katana signed Fuji Samanosuke Minamoto Yoshimune and dated 1863, with a wide, exceptionally thick blade, Tokubetsu Hozon papers, koshirae and shirasaya.
Katana signed 富士左馬亮源義宗 (Fuji Samanosuke Minamoto Yoshimune) and dated 文久三年十二月日 (Bunkyū sannen jūnigatsu hi), the 12th month of Bunkyū 3 (1863), in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate. The original seller presents it as a kinnōtō, the robust, practical sword of the Bakumatsu years. The blade, in shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune, has a nagasa of 77 cm and a sori of 0.9 cm, with a motohaba of 3.35 cm, a sakihaba of 2.4 cm, a long 5.5 cm kissaki and a kasane of 1.0 cm, well above the usual. According to the original seller, the jihada is a tight ko-itame and the hamon a chū-suguha in nie-deki with abundant ashi. The tang is ubu, 24.6 cm long, with a single mekugi-ana, as the photographs confirm. It comes in shirasaya and with a koshirae that the original seller associates with the kinnōtō mountings of the period: a very long tsuka matching the tang, dark green ito over pale same, an openwork iron tsuba with two rabbits and a crescent moon, an openwork kashira, a matte black saya and a green sageo. Two-piece copper habaki with gold foil. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers.
Strong points
- Signed and dated 1863, at the height of the Bakumatsu
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers
- Imposing blade: 77 cm nagasa and 1.0 cm kasane
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana
- Comes with both koshirae and shirasaya
Points to bear in mind
- The tsuka ito and the sageo of the mounting have been redone.
- The listing does not detail the condition of the blade; some close-ups in the photographs show small pinpoint marks in the ji.
Score
164.5 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
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
+40
Mounting from the same period as the blade +50 · rewrapped ito −5 · new sageo −5
-
Blade
+15
77 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+24.5
Price: the more affordable, the more points +24.5
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
- 77 cm
- Sori
- 0.9 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Period mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Fuji Yoshimune
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 12th month of Bunkyū 3 (1863)
- Province
- Sin provincia en la firma (kinnōtō del Bakumatsu)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Minor flaws declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,35 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,4 cm
- Motokasane
- 1,0 cm: lomo muy grueso
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