Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Koyama Munetsugu, signed and dated to the 5th month of Keiō 1 (1865), with an ubu tang and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers. Housed in shirasaya.
Katana by Koyama Munetsugu, one of the great Edo smiths of the shinshintō period, whom the original seller recalls by the nickname 四谷正宗 (Yotsuya Masamune). The blade has a nagasa of 70.9 cm with 1.2 cm of sori, a motohaba of 3.21 cm and a sakihaba of 2.57 cm, and weighs 890 g bare. According to the original seller, the jigane is a tight, fine ko-mokume, and the hamon a deep-valleyed gunome mixed with fist-shaped chōji, in nioi-deki with a high temper; the photographs show a broad midare hamon along the whole blade. The tang is ubu with a single mekugi-ana, and bears the signature 備前介藤原宗次 (Bizen no Suke Fujiwara Munetsugu) on the omote and the date 慶応元年五月日 (Keiō gannen gogatsu hi) on the ura. The NBTHK certified it as Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken in 2004, and the origami appears in the photographs. It is kept in shirasaya; no mounting accompanies it.
Strong points
- Signed and dated work by Koyama Munetsugu, an Edo master of the shinshintō period
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers, photographed
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana
- High-tempered gunome and chōji hamon, according to the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- No mounting: the blade is offered in shirasaya only
- The listing says nothing about the condition or polish of the blade
Score
91 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin +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
70.9 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+11
Price: the more affordable, the more points +11
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
- 70.9 cm
- Sori
- 1.2 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Koyama Munetsugu
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 5th month of Keiō 1 (1865)
- Province
- Bizen
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,21 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,57 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,73 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,55 cm
- Blade weight
- 890 g