Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shintō katana of the Hizen school, signed Tōtōmi no Kami Fujiwara Kanehiro, with an ubu tang, declared Tokubetsu Hozon paper, koshirae and shirasaya.
Katana signed 遠江守藤原兼廣 (Tōtōmi no Kami Fujiwara Kanehiro), a smith of the Hizen school active, according to the original seller, between the Genroku and Kyōhō eras; the seller places him in the Tadayoshi circle as the second generation of the name. The blade has a nagasa of 61.2 cm, 1.65 cm of sori and a kasane of 0.78 cm: honzukuri, iori-mune, and somewhat short for its period. According to the original seller, the jigane is a well-forged ko-itame tending to mokume with some masame towards the back, and the hamon a hako-midare with a deep nioiguchi and ko-nie, mixed with gunome-chōji and abundant yō and ashi in a tōran-like manner; the slightly pointed bōshi turns back deeply down to the monouchi. The photographs show the ubu tang with its single mekugi-ana and the signature on the omote. The original seller describes the blade as very healthy, with a thick kasane. It comes with a koshirae — green-wrapped tsuka, inlaid iron tsuba and dark lacquered saya — and a shirasaya, and the seller declares NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers.
Strong points
- Full signature on the ubu tang, with a single mekugi-ana
- Declared NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers
- Blade described as very healthy, with a thick kasane
- Hako-midare hamon with gunome-chōji, according to the original seller
- Supplied with koshirae and shirasaya
Points to bear in mind
- The listing neither describes nor dates the mounting: it is documented only by the photographs
- Neither the paper nor the shirasaya appears in the photographs
- Nagasa of 61.2 cm, short for a katana of its period
Score
149.5 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin +25
-
Declared condition
+30
Healthy according to the original seller +30
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
0
Mounting the original seller says nothing about 0
-
Blade
0
61.2 cm: outside the usable range 0
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+24.5
Price: the more affordable, the more points +24.5
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
- 61.2 cm
- Sori
- 1.7 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting documented only in the photographs
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Genroku–Kyōhō eras (1688–1736)
- Province
- Hizen
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motokasane
- 0,78 cm
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