Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Banzai Hisanori dated Bunkyū 3 (1863), made for a samurai of the Koga domain, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, koshirae and shirasaya.
Katana by Banzai Hisanori, a smith of Ōmi province at the end of the Edo period. According to the original seller, he worked in Takagi, earlier in Kanzaki and also in the castle town of Kōfu, and was the elder brother of Kaga Hisanori. The blade has a nagasa of 76.5 cm and a sori of 1.1 cm; according to the catalogue description reproduced in the photographs, it is shinogi-zukuri, wide and thick in kasane, with a notare midare hamon and sunagashi. The tang is ubu, with two mekugi-ana, and bears on the omote the signature 近江国万歳久則 (Ōmi no Kuni Banzai Hisanori) with kaō, and on the ura the inscription 総州古河藩寺岡藤原美之佩刀 (probable reading: Sōshū Koga-han Teraoka Fujiwara Yoshiyuki haitō) and the date 文久三癸亥歳 (Bunkyū san mizunoto-i no toshi): the sword of a samurai of the Koga domain. The piece is published as number 39 in the catalogue “Koga-han no bugu”. It holds NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers issued in 2025. The photographs also show a koshirae with an iron tsuba, silver fuchi-kashira with plum blossoms, green ito and a black lacquered saya, as well as a shirasaya.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers (2025)
- Signed and dated Bunkyū 3 (1863), inscribed for its first owner, a samurai of the Koga domain
- Ubu tang with two mekugi-ana
- Published as number 39 in the catalogue “Koga-han no bugu”
- With koshirae and shirasaya
Points to bear in mind
- The listing says nothing about the condition or polish of the blade
- The listing neither describes nor dates the koshirae; the photographs suggest the ito and the saya lacquer have been redone
Score
112.7 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
Mounting the original seller says nothing about 0 · relacquered saya −10 · rewrapped ito −5
-
Blade
+15
76.5 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+27.7
Price: the more affordable, the more points +27.7
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
- 76.5 cm
- Sori
- 1.1 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting documented only in the photographs
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Banzai Hisanori
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- Bunkyū 3 (1863)
- Province
- Ohmi
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,4 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,2 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,85 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,5 cm
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