Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana signed and dated 1866 by Fujieda Tarō Teruyoshi, with the tomoe crest on the tang, Tokubetsu Hozon papers for the blade and a koshirae with its own Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu papers.
Katana by Fujieda Tarō Teruyoshi, an Edo smith of the final years of the shogunate trained in the Hosokawa Masayoshi school. According to the original seller, he served as official swordsmith to the Kawagoe domain and was granted permission to engrave his lord's mitsudomoe crest on his tangs. The blade has a nagasa of 69.7 cm and a sori of 1.21 cm; the photographs show an undulating hamon on a notare base. The tang, which the photographs show intact with a single mekugi-ana, bears on the omote the tomoe crest and the signature 藤枝太郎英義造 (Fujieda Tarō Teruyoshi tsukuru), and on the ura the date 慶應二寅年二月日 (Keiō ni tora-doshi nigatsu hi), that is, 1866. The NBTHK certified it Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken in 2007 (no. 152276). It comes with an uchigatana koshirae: saya lacquered black with a wrinkled-leather texture, fuchi-kashira with zuiun clouds, dragon menuki and a tsuba with a clove-and-arabesque motif, all fittings unsigned; the mounting has its own Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu papers from 2014 (no. 2002056). A shirasaya is also included.
Strong points
- Full signature and 1866 date on the tang, with the tomoe crest granted by his lord
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers for the blade
- Complete koshirae with its own NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu papers
- Tang intact according to the photographs, with a single mekugi-ana
- Shirasaya included in addition to the mounting
Points to bear in mind
- The original seller notes a couple of small kitae kizu on the blade
- The original seller describes the mounting but does not date it
- The fittings of the mounting are unsigned
Score
150.4 pointscurrent max. 255
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Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
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Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
−5
The original seller declares flaws 0 · small kitae-ware, away from the edge −5
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Signature and date
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
+40
Mounting described, undated +5 · Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper for the whole mounting +35
-
Blade
+10
69.7 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+5.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +5.4
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
- 69.7 cm
- Sori
- 1.2 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 2nd month of Keiō 2 (1866)
- Province
- Kozuke
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Minor flaws declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
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