Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shintō katana by Ōsumi no Jō Masahiro of the Horikawa school, signed 藤原正弘 (Fujiwara Masahiro), with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, in shirasaya.
Katana by Ōsumi no Jō Masahiro, a smith of the Horikawa school of Yamashiro at the start of the shintō period. According to the original seller, he was one of the leading pupils of Horikawa Kunihiro, and his works are rare because his style and signature are so close to his master's. The blade, in shinogi-zukuri with a high shinogi, a low iori-mune and a small kissaki, measures 75.6 cm in nagasa with 1.4 cm of sori. The seller describes a suken carving with soe-hi on the omote and gomabashi with soe-hi on the ura, an itame kitae mixed with mokume and rich chikei, and a ko-gunome midare hamon with notare and chōji, deep nioi and ko-ashi. The photographs show the undulating gunome hamon. The tang is suriage, with a shallow kurijiri, two mekugi-ana and the signature 藤原正弘 (Fujiwara Masahiro). It has a double copper habaki with gold foil. According to the seller, the blade is published in the Shintō Taikan, which places it around the Keichō era, and comes in shirasaya with a sayagaki by Kanzan. The photographs show the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper. There is no koshirae.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper, visible in the photographs
- Signed work by a leading pupil of Horikawa Kunihiro
- Published in the Shintō Taikan, according to the original seller
- Shirasaya with a sayagaki by Kanzan, according to the original seller
- Long, robust blade of 75.6 cm nagasa
Points to bear in mind
- Suriage (shortened) tang, signature preserved
- Old polish with small ha-atari on the edge, according to the original seller
- No koshirae: offered in shirasaya only, which does not appear in the photographs
- Undated: the Keichō era is an attribution
Score
57.4 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
−20
Shortened tang (suriage) −20
-
Declared condition
−10
The original seller declares flaws 0 · minor flaws −10
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+15
75.6 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+17.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +17.4
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
- 75.6 cm
- Sori
- 1.4 cm
- Tang
- Shortened tang (suriage)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Ōsumi no Jō Masahiro
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Keichō era (1596–1615)
- Province
- Yamashiro
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Minor flaws declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,05 cm
- Sakihaba
- 1,91 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,73 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,57 cm