Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
A long, robust katana by Echizen no Kami Kunitsugu of the Horikawa school, inscribed as made with nanban iron, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, shirasaya with sayagaki and koshirae.
Katana by Echizen no Kami Kunitsugu, a smith of the Horikawa school whom the original seller describes as the foremost student of Dewa Daijō Kunimichi, and who worked in Higo Province in his later years. The tang, intact according to the photographs and with one mekugi-ana, is signed on the omote 越前守藤原國次 (Echizen no Kami Fujiwara Kunitsugu) and inscribed on the ura 以南蛮鐵 (Nanban-tetsu o motte), "made with nanban iron". The sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro places it around the Kanbun era, in the smith's mature years. The blade is long, wide and thick, with a short kissaki: nagasa 77.58 cm, sori 1.52 cm, motohaba 3.56 cm and 1,075 g. According to the original seller, the jigane is a tight koitame and komokume with fine chikei, and the hamon a nie-based suguha with nijūba and sunagashi. It is kept in shirasaya with sayagaki and comes with a koshirae with a black lacquered saya, red-wrapped tsuka and an iron tsuba; the fuchi-kashira, signed Hakuundō Tsunenari with a Three Kingdoms theme, and the shell menuki, signed Shōami, each carry their own NBTHK Hozon Tōsōgu paper. The blade holds NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers
- Full signature with the nanban iron inscription on the ura
- Tang intact according to the photographs
- Shirasaya with sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro
- Koshirae with signed fuchi-kashira and menuki, each with Hozon Tōsōgu papers
Points to bear in mind
- The tang is undated: the Kanbun era comes from the sayagaki
- The original seller describes the mounting but does not date it
- The Hozon Tōsōgu papers certify the fuchi-kashira and the menuki, not the mounting as a whole
Score
179 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
+30
Healthy according to the original seller +30
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
+35
Mounting described, undated +5 · fitting with Hozon Tōsōgu paper +5 · fitting with Hozon Tōsōgu paper +5 · signed fittings: 2 +20
-
Blade
+15
77.6 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+9
Price: the more affordable, the more points +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
- 77.6 cm
- Sori
- 1.5 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
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Kanbun era (1661–1673)
- Province
- Higo
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,56 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,52 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,83 cm
- Blade weight
- 1075 g
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