Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Kotō katana of the Uda school of Etchū, signed Kunimune and dating from the Muromachi period, with an intact-looking tang, in shirasaya and with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers declared by the original seller.
Katana of the Uda school, the lineage of smiths in Etchū province founded at the end of the Kamakura period by Ko-Nyūdō Kunimitsu, who came from Yamato. According to the original seller, Kunimune was the younger brother of Kunifusa, the founder's son, and the name was carried by several generations; the seller places this blade between the Ōei and Tenbun eras, in the heart of the Muromachi period. The seller describes it as a work in Yamashiro style: shape and jigane on a Yamato basis, with a nie-rich, vigorous hamon. Nagasa 68.8 cm and sori 2.0 cm; motohaba 3.3 cm, sakihaba 2.3 cm and kasane 0.7 cm at the base. The photographs show a tang of intact shape with a single mekugi-ana, a dark patina and the signature Kunimune cut on the omote. The blade is kept in a shirasaya with an ink sayagaki and fitted with a habaki. The original seller declares NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers, which do not appear in the photographs. It is offered without koshirae.
Strong points
- Kotō work of the Uda school of Etchū, Muromachi period
- Blade signed Kunimune
- Tang of intact shape according to the photographs, with a single mekugi-ana
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers, according to the original seller
- Shirasaya with ink sayagaki
Points to bear in mind
- The listing says nothing about the condition or polish of the blade
- The NBTHK paper does not appear in the photographs
- Not dated: the Ōei to Tenbun attribution is the original seller's
- Offered in shirasaya only, without koshirae
Score
78.9 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +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
+5
68.8 cm: close to the usable range +5
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+18.9
Price: the more affordable, the more points +18.9
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
- 68.8 cm
- Sori
- 2 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Uda Kunimune
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- Muromachi period (c. 1394–1555)
- Province
- Etchu
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,3 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,3 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,7 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,5 cm