NH-0416 Rank 95
Izumi-no-Kami Hōjōji Tachibana Masatsugu
Signed katana of the Edo branch of the Hōjōji school, 62.9 cm nagasa with bō-hi on both sides, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken origami and a gold-flecked lacquered saya mounting.
Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
A work by Izumi-no-Kami Hōjōji Tachibana Masatsugu, a smith of the Edo branch of the Hōjōji school, which originated in Tajima and continued the line of the kotō smith Hōjōji Kunimitsu. According to the original seller, he trained under Ōmi-no-Kami Hōjōji Tachibana Masahiro and received the Izumi-no-Kami title only after his master's death, so his signed works are very scarce. The blade, a shintō piece of about the Kyōhō era, measures 62.9 cm nagasa with 1.5 cm sori and carries bō-hi on both sides. The photographs show an ubu nakago, as the original seller states, with a crisp signature and two mekugi-ana. It is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken origami, legible in the images and issued for this signature, together with the 1951 Japanese registration. It comes with a koshirae whose saya is lacquered dark with gold mottling, a tsuka with pale ito and menuki, an iron tsuba and dark fuchi-kashira with gilt motifs, plus a shirasaya.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken origami, photographed and legible
- Signature of an uncommon smith of the Edo branch of the Hōjōji school
- Ubu nakago with a well-preserved signature
- Bō-hi on both sides of the blade
- Complete koshirae with gold-flecked lacquered saya, plus shirasaya
Points to bear in mind
- The original seller gives no account of the blade's condition and the photographs are not enough to judge it.
- The mounting is described but not dated: its age is not documented.
- The koshirae appears only in a small photographic montage, without sufficient detail views.
- The count of two mekugi-ana is taken from images of limited resolution.
Score breakdown
55.2/100
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 10 of 18 Signed, with no engraved date
- Tang 20 of 22 Tang intact according to the seller at origin, with 2 mekugi-ana
- Mounting 1 of 18 Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
- Declared condition 11 of 20 Condition not declared
- Blade 4 of 8 62.9 cm: outside the usable range
- Shirasaya 0 of 4 No shirasaya: one will have to be made
- Price 9.2 of 10 Rank 12 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest