Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shinshintō katana by Tairyūsai Sōkan, signed and dated 1st month of Keiō 4 (1868), with an ubu tang, in shirasaya and with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper.
Katana by Tairyūsai Sōkan, a shinshintō smith of the Koyama school who, according to the original seller, was a pupil of Koyama Munetsugu, worked by the Abukuma river in Shirakawa (Ōshū), later settled in Fukagawa, Edo, and died in Meiji 16 (1883). The blade measures 69.7 cm in nagasa with 1.06 cm of sori; the seller describes it as broad and thick, with mitsu-mune, the ubu-ba preserved and a very long kissaki. According to the seller, the jigane is a dense ko-itame with utsuri and the hamon an evenly tall gunome-midare in ko-nie and mainly nioi, with fairly long ashi; the photographs show this regular gunome-midare along the whole blade. The tang is ubu, with two mekugi-ana, signed 泰龍斎宗寛造之 日州高鍋為岡本氏鍛之 (Tairyūsai Sōkan kore o tsukuru, Nisshū Takanabe Okamoto-shi no tame kore o kitau), a commissioned work for the Takanabe domain in Hyūga, and dated 慶應四年正月日 (Keiō yonen shōgatsu hi). It comes in shirasaya with a one-piece silver habaki and no koshirae. It holds an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper issued in 2022.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper
- Signed and dated 1st month of Keiō 4 (1868), with a commission inscription
- Ubu tang with two mekugi-ana
- Evenly tall gunome-midare, characteristic of the smith
- Broad, thick blade with a very long kissaki
Points to bear in mind
- Offered in shirasaya only, without koshirae
- The listing does not state the blade's condition beyond saying it is polished
Score
101.2 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin, with 2 mekugi-ana +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
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
69.7 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+21.2
Price: the more affordable, the more points +21.2
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
- 69.7 cm
- Sori
- 1.1 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Tairyūsai Sōkan
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 1st month of Keiō 4 (1868)
- Province
- Musashi
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,24 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,65 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,69 cm
- Blade weight
- 835 g