Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shintō katana of the Edo branch of the Mizuta school, signed by Yamashiro Daijō Kunishige, with an ubu tang, declared Tokubetsu Hozon paper and kept in shirasaya.
Edo-period katana attributed by the original seller to the second generation of the Edo branch of the Mizuta school, the family of smiths from Bitchū who signed Kunishige. The blade has a nagasa of 70.3 cm with 1.3 cm of sori, a motohaba of 3.01 cm and a sakihaba of 2.08 cm, and weighs 650 g bare. According to the original seller, the hamon is a large gunome-midare with small, thick nie, over a ko-mokume jigane with abundant chikei; the photographs show an undulating temper line of broad gunome along the whole blade. The tang is ubu, with a single mekugi-ana and continuous file marks, and is signed on the omote 山城大掾源国重 (Yamashiro Daijō Minamoto Kunishige). The blade comes in shirasaya, with its habaki, and without a mounting. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, which does not appear in the photographs.
Strong points
- Signature on the tang: 山城大掾源国重 (Yamashiro Daijō Minamoto Kunishige)
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller
- Large gunome-midare visible in the photographs
- Kept in shirasaya
Points to bear in mind
- No koshirae: the blade is offered in shirasaya only
- The Tokubetsu Hozon paper does not appear in the photographs
- The listing does not describe the condition of the blade
Score
100 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
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
70.3 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+30
Price: the more affordable, the more points +30
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
- 70.3 cm
- Sori
- 1.3 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Mizuta Kunishige
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Edo period, Shintō (1596–1780)
- Province
- Yamashiro
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,01 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,08 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,72 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,51 cm
- Blade weight
- 650 g