Kantei

NH-0264 Rank 117

Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisada

Signed katana by the first Ōsaka Kunisada, 75.7 cm and of robust build, in a koshirae with matching kiri-crest fittings; NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate declared by the original seller.

Shintō (1596-1780)Edo period (1603–1868)SettsuNBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

Katana signed by Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisada, the first Kunisada of Ōsaka. According to the original seller, he was born in Tenshō 18 (1590) at Obi in Hyūga, studied under Horikawa Kunihiro and trained with Echigo no Kami Kunitomo; he received the title Izumi no Kami in Genna 9 (1623), settled in Ōsaka and, together with Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, laid the foundations of Ōsaka shintō. His second son, Inoue Shinkai, came to be called the “Masamune of Ōsaka”. The blade has a nagasa of 75.7 cm and a sori of 1.6 cm, with a robust shape; the seller describes a gunome hamon mixed with chōji, abundant nie and sunagashi, a bōshi with a deep return and muneyaki, in a showy piece of work. In the photographs the tang shows a single mekugi-ana and the signature on the omote, and appears intact. It is mounted in a koshirae with a ribbed reddish-brown lacquered saya, a tsuka of white same with black wrap and matching fittings — tsuba, fuchi-kashira, menuki, kozuka and kōgai — bearing the same gold kiri-type crest; the seller neither describes nor dates the mounting. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate declared by the seller does not appear in the photographs.

Strong points

  • First-generation Kunisada, co-founder of the Ōsaka shintō tradition and father of Inoue Shinkai
  • Long, robust blade of 75.7 cm (2 shaku 5 sun), signed, with a single mekugi-ana
  • Gunome hamon with chōji, nie and sunagashi, deep bōshi return and muneyaki, as described by the original seller
  • NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate declared
  • Complete koshirae with a matching set of fittings bearing a kiri-type crest

Points to bear in mind

  • The mounting appears only in the photographs: the original seller neither describes nor dates it
  • The tsuka wrap and the sageo look recent in the photographs
  • The original seller does not state the blade's condition
  • The certificate is not shown in the photographs

Score breakdown

49.2/100

The score shares out 100 points: Signature and date 18 · Tang 22 · Mounting 18 · Declared condition 20 · Blade 8 · Shirasaya 4 · Price 10. 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).

  1. Signature and date 10 of 18 Signed, with no engraved date
  2. Tang 20 of 22 Tang intact according to the photographs
  3. Mounting -2 of 18 Mounting documented only in the photographs · with a family crest (mon) · restored: rewrapped ito and new sageo
  4. Declared condition 11 of 20 Condition not declared
  5. Blade 8 of 8 75.7 cm: within the usable range
  6. Shirasaya 0 of 4 No shirasaya: one will have to be made
  7. Price 2.2 of 10 Rank 108 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest