Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by the first Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke of the Horikawa school, with a signed ubu tang and NBTHK Jūyō Tōken papers (38th session). Kept in shirasaya.
Katana by the first Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, signed 河内守藤原国助 (Kawachi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisuke). According to the Jūyō paper's description, Kunisuke was the youngest pupil of the Horikawa school, settled in Ōsaka and was a pioneer of smithing in that city, with a strong influence on later smiths. The blade is shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune, 76.65 cm in nagasa and 1.4 cm in sori, with a motohaba of 3.0 cm and a sakihaba of 2.1 cm. The original seller describes a tightly forged ko-itame jigane mixed with mokume, thick ji-nie and fine chikei; a wide hamon of notare with gunome, chōji and togari-ba, with nie, yubashiri, tobiyaki, ashi, kinsuji and sunagashi; and a straight bōshi turning back deeply in ko-maru with hakikake. The photographs show the broad undulation of the hamon along the whole blade. The tang is ubu, with ō-sujichigai yasurime, a kurijiri tip and a single mekugi-ana, as the photographs confirm. It was designated Jūyō Tōken at the 38th NBTHK session (30 October 1992), and the paper appears in the photographs together with its oshigata. According to the original seller, it is published in the Shintō-shū. It is kept in shirasaya, without koshirae.
Strong points
- NBTHK Jūyō Tōken paper, 38th session (1992), photographed with its oshigata and description
- Signed ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana
- Work of the first Kunisuke, a pioneer of Ōsaka smithing
- Wide notare and gunome hamon with kinsuji and sunagashi, according to the original seller
- Published in the Shintō-shū, according to the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- Offered in shirasaya only, without koshirae.
- The original seller does not state the condition or the date of the polish; the Jūyō paper's description calls the blade healthy.
- The paper's description notes that it is not certain when he received the title Kawachi no Kami.
Score
202 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+140
NBTHK Jūyō paper +140
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin +25
-
Declared condition
+30
Healthy according to the original seller +30
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+15
76.7 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
−13
Price: the more affordable, the more points −13
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
- 76.7 cm
- Sori
- 1.4 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Jūyō
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Genna–Shōhō era (1615–1647)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,0 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,1 cm