Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shinshintō katana signed and dated by Jirōtarō Naokatsu in 1839, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, a described koshirae and a declared shirasaya.
Jirōtarō Naokatsu, pupil, son-in-law and adopted heir of Taikei Naotane in Edo, served like his master the Akimoto clan of Yamagata; according to the original seller, he made many substitute works for Naotane in his later years, and relatively few works under his own name are known. The blade has a nagasa of 70.3 cm and a sori of 1.88 cm: wide, thick and deeply curved. The photographs show a lively gunome-midare hamon; the original seller describes a tight nioiguchi with abundant sunagashi and kinsuji, a fine ko-itame jigane and a midare bōshi with turn-back. The nakago, intact as far as the photographs show, with one mekugi-ana, is signed 次郎太郎直勝 (Jirōtarō Naokatsu) and dated 天保十己亥年春二月日 (Tenpō jū tsuchinoto-i-doshi haru nigatsu hi). Single-piece copper habaki. The koshirae has an openwork iron tsuba with chrysanthemums and paulownia, a shakudō fuchi, a horn kashira and menuki of a figure with a dog, in a black lacquered saya. It comes with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers issued in 2019.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers
- Signed and dated: 2nd month of Tenpō 10 (1839)
- Work by an heir of Taikei Naotane, with a small known output
- Nakago intact according to the photographs, with a single mekugi-ana
- Complete koshirae in a lacquered saya, plus a declared shirasaya
Points to bear in mind
- The listing says nothing about the condition or polish of the blade.
- The koshirae is undated and has no papers of its own.
- From the photographs, the saya lacquer and the ito appear to have been redone.
- The shirasaya is stated in the listing but does not appear in the photographs.
Score
94.7 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
−10
Mounting described, undated +5 · relacquered saya −10 · rewrapped ito −5
-
Blade
+10
70.3 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+14.7
Price: the more affordable, the more points +14.7
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
- 70.3 cm
- Sori
- 1.9 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Jirōtarō Naokatsu
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 2nd month of Tenpō 10 (1839)
- Province
- Yamagata
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,2 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,15 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,7 cm
- Blade weight
- 785 g
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