NH-0384 Rank 28
Suifu-jū Katsumura Tokukatsu
水府住勝村徳勝作之
Katana signed and dated 1863 by Katsumura Tokukatsu, smith to the Mito domain, with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate and a koshirae with black-lacquered saya bearing gold crests.
Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Katana by Katsumura Tokukatsu (勝村徳勝), a smith in the service of the Mito domain in the late Edo period. According to the original seller, he was born in 1806 as the son of a Mito samurai, learned forging from the domain smith Sekinai Tokumune and, by order of Tokugawa Nariaki, went to Edo in 1852 to train under Hosokawa Masayoshi and Unju Korekazu; from 1861 he worked at the domain residence in Koishikawa. The blade, with a nagasa of 70.6 cm and a sori of 2.0 cm, is signed “Suifu-jū Katsumura Tokukatsu saku kore” and dated to the 8th month of Bunkyū 3 (1863). The original seller describes it as an unusual work within his output: tightly knit ko-itame, an ō-notare midare hamon with abundant kinsuji and sunagashi, and a bōshi returning almost in ichimai, in the manner of the great Sōshū masters such as Gō Yoshihiro. In the photographs the tang appears intact, with a single mekugi-ana and an even patina. It comes with a koshirae featuring a black-lacquered saya decorated with gold crests, a tsuka with same and black wrap, an iron tsuba and a green sageo. The blade holds an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate, whose origami is shown in the photographs.
Strong points
- Signed and dated: 8th month of Bunkyū 3 (1863)
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate, photographed
- Official smith of the Mito domain, trained in Edo under Hosokawa Masayoshi and Unju Korekazu
- Ō-notare hamon with kinsuji and sunagashi in the Sōshū manner, according to the original seller
- Intact tang with a single mekugi-ana in the photographs
- Koshirae with black-lacquered saya and gold crests
Points to bear in mind
- The original seller gives no details on the blade's state of preservation
- The mounting is not dated by the original seller; the sageo appears to be a replacement
- The NBTHK certificate covers the blade, not the mounting
Score breakdown
67.7/100
The score shares out 100 points: Signature and date 18 · Tang 22 · Mounting 18 · Declared condition 20 · Blade 8 · Shirasaya 4 · Price 10. 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).
- Signature and date 18 of 18 Signed and with an engraved date
- Tang 20 of 22 Tang intact according to the photographs
- Mounting 2 of 18 Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin · with a family crest (mon) · restored: new sageo
- Declared condition 17 of 20 Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Blade 8 of 8 70.6 cm: within the usable range
- Shirasaya 0 of 4 No shirasaya: one will have to be made
- Price 2.7 of 10 Rank 102 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest