Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Hizen katana signed by Ōmi Daijō Tadahiro, circa the Enpō era, with bō-hi and hoso-hi on both sides, an intact tang and Tokubetsu Hozon papers declared by the original seller.
According to the original seller, Ōmi Daijō Tadahiro was the second generation of the Tadayoshi house of Hizen, a school known for its fine, moist steel and its suguha or chōji hamon. The seller places this blade around the Enpō era and believes it was forged with the help of his heir, Mutsu no Kami Tadayoshi, modelled on the works of Tegai Kanenaga of Yamato. The blade is wide, with a deep sori and a chū-kissaki and a generous shinogi-ji; the photographs show a bō-hi with a rounded end (maru-dome) alongside a hoso-hi on both sides. According to the seller, the jigane is a dense ko-itame with chikei, the konuka-hada typical of Hizen, and the hamon a hiro-suguha of bright nie with kinsuji, sunagashi, ashi and yō, with a bōshi turning back in ko-maru. The photographs show an intact tang with a single mekugi-ana, a kurijiri tip and the signature 肥前國住近江大掾藤原忠廣 (Hizen no Kuni-jū Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara no Tadahiro). It has a gold-foiled double habaki and is kept in shirasaya, according to the listing. The seller declares NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Strong points
- Full signature of Ōmi Daijō Tadahiro, legible in the photographs
- Intact tang with a single mekugi-ana
- Bō-hi maru-dome and hoso-hi on both sides
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, according to the original seller
- Gold-foiled double habaki
Points to bear in mind
- No koshirae: offered in shirasaya, which the listing declares but the photographs do not show
- The papers do not appear in the photographs
- The listing says nothing about the condition of the blade
- Undated: the attribution to around the Enpō era comes from the original seller
Score
77.4 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
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
71.3 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+12.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +12.4
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
- 71.3 cm
- Sori
- 2.3 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Ōmi Daijō Tadahiro
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Circa Enpō era (1673–1681)
- Province
- Hizen
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,12 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,21 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,70 cm