Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Izumi no Kami Kanesada (Nosada), signed 濃州関住兼定 (Nōshū Seki-jū Kanesada), with an ubu tang, Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers and a shirasaya bearing a sayagaki.
Katana by Izumi no Kami Kanesada, the great master of Seki in Mino province, known as Nosada from the way he cut the final character of his name. It is signed 濃州関住兼定 (Nōshū Seki-jū Kanesada), a signature the original seller places among the smith's earliest, around the Meiō era at the end of the Muromachi period. The blade has a nagasa of 67.1 cm and a sori of 2.3 cm: shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, wide mihaba, deep sori with saki-zori and a chū-kissaki. The photographs show a hamon of round-headed gunome mixed with togariba over a notare base; according to the original seller, the jigane is itame mixed with mokume, with fine ji-nie and shirake-utsuri, ashi and yō, and the bōshi is midare-komi with a jizō-style turn-back. The tang is ubu, with a kurijiri tip, takanoha yasurime and two mekugi-ana. The blade is kept in a shirasaya with a sayagaki signed 探山 (Tanzan) and has a one-piece gilt habaki. It carries NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers dated December 2019. The original seller presents it as a Jūyō candidate, which is the seller's own assessment and not an NBTHK designation.
Strong points
- Signed work by Izumi no Kami Kanesada (Nosada), from his early period according to the original seller
- Ubu tang with kurijiri tip and two mekugi-ana
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers
- Gunome with togariba typical of Sue-Seki, visible in the photographs
- Shirasaya with a sayagaki signed 探山 (Tanzan)
Points to bear in mind
- Offered without koshirae: in shirasaya only.
- The listing does not state the blade's condition or the date of the last polish.
- The Jūyō candidate status is the original seller's opinion, not an NBTHK designation.
Score
64.2 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin, with 2 mekugi-ana +25
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+5
67.1 cm: close to the usable range +5
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
−0.8
Price: the more affordable, the more points −0.8
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
- 2.3 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- Meiō era (1492–1501)
- Province
- Mino
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,0 cm
- Sakihaba
- 1,9 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,55 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,42 cm
- Shinogi-kasane
- 0,77 cm
- Blade weight
- 693 g