Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana signed by Tairyūsai Sōkan and dated the 11th month of Keiō 1 (1865), with an ubu tang, in shirasaya and with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate.
Katana by Tairyūsai Sōkan, a smith of the Koyama school active in Edo in the mid-nineteenth century. According to the original seller, he was a native of Hachinohe, and high-ranking samurai of that domain commissioned blades from him during their stays in Edo, where he worked in the Aoyama district. The blade measures 75.75 cm in nagasa (2 shaku 5 sun), with 0.8 cm of sori, a motohaba of 3.38 cm and a sakihaba of 2.5 cm, according to the seller's sheet. The photographs show a regular, well-defined gunome hamon along the whole edge. The tang, declared ubu by the seller, keeps its shape and patina in the photographs, with two mekugi-ana; it is signed 泰龍斎寛造之 (Tairyūsai Kan kore o tsukuru) and dated 慶応元年十一月日 (Keiō gannen jūichigatsu hi). According to the seller, it has a one-piece solid gold habaki. It is presented in shirasaya, without koshirae. It comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate, issued in 1996, which confirms the attribution to Sōkan.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate
- Signed and dated the 11th month of Keiō 1 (1865)
- Ubu tang according to the original seller
- One-piece solid gold habaki, according to the original seller
- Regular gunome hamon, visible in the photographs
Points to bear in mind
- Presented in shirasaya only, without koshirae.
- The seller's sheet does not state the condition or the polish of the blade.
- The seller's sheet gives one mekugi-ana, but two are visible in the photographs of the tang.
Score
103.3 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
+15
75.8 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+18.3
Price: the more affordable, the more points +18.3
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
- 75.8 cm
- Sori
- 0.8 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Tairyūsai Sōkan
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 11th month of Keiō 1 (1865)
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,38 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,5 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,66 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,58 cm