Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Chikanori, smith of the Mito domain, dated 1869 and made to order, with an ubu tang, Tokubetsu Hozon papers and an uchigatana mounting made for the blade.
According to the original seller, Chikanori worked in Mito in the late Edo period, studied under Taikei Naotane and forged as a smith of the Mito domain. The blade, in shinogi-zukuri with iori-mune and chū-kissaki, has a fairly deep sori; the omote carries a pair of short hi and the ura a bō-hi with soe-bi, as the photographs show. The hamon is gunome midare; the original seller describes it as bright, with ko-nie and ashi, over a tight ko-itame with ji-nie. The tang is ubu, with one mekugi-ana, signed 関善定家近則 (Seki Zenjō-ke Chikanori) and on the ura 明治二年八月日 (Meiji ni-nen hachigatsu hi) and 應江幡主需造之 (probable reading: Ebata-nushi no motome ni ōjite kore o tsukuru), a commissioned work. The NBTHK awarded it Tokubetsu Hozon in 2012, and the original seller cites it in several publications on Mito and Ibaraki swords. It comes with a shirasaya and an uchigatana mounting in lacquer with crushed mother-of-pearl which, according to the original seller, was made for this blade; its iron tsuba with dragons carries a Tokubetsu Kichō Kodōgu certificate.
Strong points
- Signed and dated 1869, a commissioned work
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers (2012)
- Uchigatana mounting made for this blade, according to the original seller
- Shirasaya with tsunagi
Points to bear in mind
- The listing says nothing about the condition of the blade
- The tsuba paper belongs to the NBTHK's former, retired system (Tokubetsu Kichō Kodōgu) and covers that piece only
- That the mounting was made for this blade rests on the original seller's written statement, not on a paper
Score
191.4 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
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
+80
Mounting made for this blade +75 · fitting with an old certificate (Kichō) +5
-
Blade
+10
71.3 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+16.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +16.4
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
- 71.3 cm
- Sori
- 1.8 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting made to fit the blade
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Chikanori
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 8th month of Meiji 2 (1869)
- Province
- Hitachi (Mito)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,1 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,2 cm
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