Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Kotō katana by Osafune Kiyomitsu, signed and dated 1563, with an ubu tang, Tokubetsu Hozon paper according to the original seller, shirasaya and an uchigatana koshirae with a black ishime saya.
Katana by Kiyomitsu of the Osafune school in Bizen province, one of the central names of late-Muromachi Sue-Bizen. The tang is ubu, with a single mekugi-ana, and bears on the omote the signature 備前國住長船清光作 (Bizen no kuni-jū Osafune Kiyomitsu saku) and on the ura the date 永禄六年八月日 (Eiroku rokunen hachigatsu hi), 1563. Nagasa 67.1 cm, sori 1.6 cm and kasane 0.85 cm. The blade is in shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune. According to the original seller, the jigane is a tightly forged itame mixed with mokume, with dense jinie, fine chikei and soft utsuri, and the hamon is a hiro-suguha undulating into notare with gunome and ko-midare, rich in kinsuji, sunagashi and yō; the photographs show the gently undulating suguha and the grain of the steel. It is kept in its shirasaya and comes with an uchigatana koshirae with a black-lacquered ishime saya, a wrapped tsuka over same and an openwork iron tsuba, which the seller describes without dating it. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper, which does not appear in the photographs.
Strong points
- Signed and dated: 備前國住長船清光作 (Bizen no kuni-jū Osafune Kiyomitsu saku), 永禄六年八月日 (Eiroku rokunen hachigatsu hi)
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper, according to the original seller
- Supplied with shirasaya and an uchigatana koshirae
- Typical Sue-Bizen work, with hiro-suguha and abundant yō according to the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- The listing says nothing about the condition or polish of the blade
- The koshirae is described but not dated
- The paper does not appear in the photographs
Score
116.7 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
+5
Mounting described, undated +5
-
Blade
+5
67.1 cm: close to the usable range +5
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+21.7
Price: the more affordable, the more points +21.7
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
- 67.1 cm
- Sori
- 1.6 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Osafune Kiyomitsu
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- 8th month of Eiroku 6 (1563)
- Province
- Bizen (Osafune)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
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