Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Nobukuni Yoshikane of the Chikuzen branch of the Nobukuni school, signed with an ubu tang, designated Jūyō Tōken by the NBTHK at its 23rd session. Kept in shirasaya.
Blade by Nobukuni Yoshikane, of the Chikuzen branch of the Nobukuni school, whose smiths worked for the Kuroda clan during the Edo period; according to the designation text, he was the father of Shigekane. It is a shinogi-zukuri katana with iori-mune and chū-kissaki, 71.0 cm in nagasa with 1.6 cm of sori, a motohaba of 3.15 cm and a sakihaba of 2.2 cm. According to the original seller and the paper, the jigane is a dense ko-itame with fine ji-nie and chikei; the hamon is ko-notare with ō-gunome midare and touches of chōji, with sunagashi and a bright nioiguchi; the bōshi is straight with ko-maru. The photographs show the broad, undulating hamon along the whole blade. The tang is ubu, with a kurijiri tip and two mekugi-ana, signed on the omote 筑州住源信國吉包 (Chikushū-jū Minamoto Nobukuni Yoshikane) and on the ura 以南蛮鉄作之 (Nanban-tetsu o motte kore o tsukuru), an inscription stating the use of imported steel. The NBTHK designated it Jūyō Tōken at its 23rd session, on 1 July 1975; the certificate and the page of the designation catalogue are among the photographs. It comes in shirasaya with sayagaki, without mountings.
Strong points
- NBTHK Jūyō Tōken, 23rd session (1975), certificate photographed
- Ubu tang signed on both sides
- Ura inscription stating the use of nanban-tetsu (imported steel)
- Broad notare and gunome hamon, visible in the photographs
- Shirasaya with sayagaki
Points to bear in mind
- Offered in shirasaya only, without koshirae.
- The listing does not state the condition or the date of the last polish.
- The blade carries no inscribed date; it is placed in the mid-Edo period.
Score
153.6 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+140
NBTHK Jūyō paper +140
-
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
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
71 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
−6.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points −6.4
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 cm
- Sori
- 1.6 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Jūyō
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Nobukuni Yoshikane
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Mid-Edo period
- Province
- Chikuzen
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,15 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,2 cm