Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Early-to-mid Edo period katana signed 丹後守兼道 (Tango no Kami Kanemichi), of the Ōsaka branch of the Mishina school, with a tōran-midare hamon; offered in shirasaya, without mounts.
Katana forged in Settsu province (Ōsaka) between the early and middle Edo period by Tango no Kami Kanemichi, of the Ōsaka branch of the Mishina school. The blade has a nagasa of 69.6 cm and a sori of 1.5 cm; it is shinogi-zukuri with a low shinogi, tapers slightly towards the point and ends in an extended kissaki. According to the original seller, the jigane is a very tight ko-itame with pronounced masame on the shinogi-ji, and the hamon is a tōran-style ō-midare with a deep nioiguchi and a very wide yakiba, starting with an Ōsaka-style yakidashi and alternating groups of large gunome with stretches of hiro-suguha and some tobiyaki; the bōshi is straight with a deep turn-back. The photographs show this wide, undulating temper along the whole blade. The tang, which the photographs show intact, with keshō-yasuri, an iriyamagata tip and two mekugi-ana, one of them a spare according to the original seller, bears the signature 丹後守兼道 (Tango no Kami Kanemichi) along the shinogi. The original seller declares NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers and the shirasaya; neither appears in the photographs. The piece comes without mounts.
Strong points
- Signature 丹後守兼道 (Tango no Kami Kanemichi) on a tang the photographs show intact
- Tōran-style ō-midare hamon with a very wide yakiba, according to the original seller
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers, according to the original seller
- Ōsaka Mishina school, early to mid Edo period
Points to bear in mind
- Offered in shirasaya without mounts; the shirasaya is stated in the listing, not shown in the photographs.
- The papers do not appear in the photographs.
- The listing says nothing about the condition of the blade.
- No inscribed date; the smith's generation is not stated.
Score
77.7 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs, with 2 mekugi-ana +20
-
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
69.6 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+12.7
Price: the more affordable, the more points +12.7
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
- 69.6 cm
- Sori
- 1.5 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Early to mid Edo period (shintō)
- Province
- Settsu
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,35 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,25 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,70 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,50 cm