Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana signed 重次 (Shigetsugu), from Tosa, early Edo period, with an intact tang, shirasaya and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Katana signed 重次 (Shigetsugu), a smith of Tosa province working in the first half of the Edo period. According to the original seller, he worked in Kōchi and trained under Kunimasu, a pupil of the second-generation Yoshimichi of Osaka, and his surviving works are scarce. The blade has a nagasa of 69.05 cm and a sori of 1.93 cm, a well-balanced taper from base to point and a slightly extended kissaki. The original seller describes a well-forged ko-itame jigane with ji-nie and chikei, and a bright ko-nie hamon that moves from notare to gunome, suguha and chōji, with ashi, yō, sunagashi and kinsuji; the bōshi is straight with a round turn-back on both sides. The photographs show these changes of hamon pattern along the blade. The tang, shown intact in the photographs, has a single mekugi-ana and the signature on the omote. The blade is kept in shirasaya with a gold-foiled copper habaki, and comes with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper from 2016, attributing it to Shigetsugu of Tosa, shintō period. It has no koshirae.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper (2016)
- Four hamon patterns on one blade: notare, gunome, suguha and chōji
- Intact, signed tang with a single mekugi-ana
- According to the original seller, an artistic polish and no notable forging flaws
- Uncommon work by a Tosa smith
Points to bear in mind
- Offered without koshirae, in shirasaya only.
- The listing does not date the polish.
Score
156.6 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
+55
Healthy according to the original seller +30 · museum polish +25
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
69.1 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+16.6
Price: the more affordable, the more points +16.6
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
- 69.1 cm
- Sori
- 1.9 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Tosa Shigetsugu
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Circa Tenna era (1681–1684)
- Province
- Tosa
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,23 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,23 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,73 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,50 cm
- Blade weight
- 716 g