Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Jūyō Tōken katana by Mondo no Shō Masakiyo of Satsuma, dated 1724, with an intact tang, the single hollyhock-leaf crest and the signature with his title. Kept in shirasaya.
Katana by Mondo no Shō Masakiyo, a Satsuma smith of the shintō period, dated the second month of Kyōhō 9 (1724). According to the original seller, Masakiyo trained in the Sōshū tradition under Maruta Masafusa and in Kyōhō 6 forged before the shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune in Edo, together with Ichi no Hira Yasuyo; in recognition he received the title Mondo no Shō and the single hollyhock-leaf crest. The blade is wide and substantial, with deep sori and a slightly extended chū-kissaki. The seller describes a tight ko-itame with ji-nie and chikei, and a notare hamon mixed with gunome and pointed elements in bright nie, with abundant kinsuji and sunagashi; the photographs show this notare-gunome with a clear nie edge. The tang, intact according to the photographs and with one mekugi-ana, bears on the omote the crest 一葉葵 (hitoha aoi) and the signature 主水正正清 (Mondo no Shō Masakiyo), and on the ura the date 享保九年二月 (Kyōhō ku-nen nigatsu). It is kept in shirasaya with a single-piece gold-foiled habaki. Designated Jūyō Tōken by the NBTHK; the designation certificate appears in the photographs.
Strong points
- Designated Jūyō Tōken by the NBTHK, certificate photographed
- Titled signature 主水正正清 (Mondo no Shō Masakiyo) with the hollyhock-leaf crest
- Dated the second month of Kyōhō 9 (1724)
- Tang intact according to the photographs, with a single mekugi-ana
- Wide, robust blade with a notare and gunome hamon in bright nie
Points to bear in mind
- Offered without koshirae: shirasaya only
- The listing does not state the condition or the date of the polish
Score
151.1 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+140
NBTHK Jūyō paper +140
-
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
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
71.8 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
−13.9
Price: the more affordable, the more points −13.9
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
- 71.8 cm
- Sori
- 2 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Jūyō
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- 2nd month of Kyōhō 9 (1724)
- Province
- Satsuma
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,33 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,12 cm
- Shinogi-kasane
- 0,76 cm