Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Kotō katana of the Hachiya-Seki tradition of Mino, Eishō era, with an ubu tang signed 兼貞 (Kanesada), Tokubetsu Hozon papers, shirasaya with sayagaki and a late-Edo koshirae.
Katana forged in Mino province by Kanesada, a smith of the Hachiya-Seki tradition. The original seller attributes it to the third generation, active in the Eishō era (1504–1521), in the midst of the Sengoku period. The blade has a nagasa of 68.8 cm and a sori of 1.6 cm, with iori-mune, high shinogi and chū-kissaki; the photographs show horimono on both faces. According to the original seller, the jigane is ko-itame mixed with ko-mokume and masame towards the shinogi-ji, with Seki-utsuri, and the hamon is a hiro-suguha with ko-gunome and ko-chōji in the upper part and a bright nioiguchi; the photographs show ashi along the edge. The tang is ubu, with one mekugi-ana, and is signed 兼貞 (Kanesada). The NBTHK has certified it Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken. It comes with a shirasaya bearing a recent sayagaki by Tanobe and a koshirae that the seller places in the late Edo period: shibuichi fuchi-kashira with a dragon among clouds, dragon menuki, an openwork iron tsuba with figures beneath a pine, a shibuichi tiger mounted on the saya, and a black-lacquered saya with carved bands (kizami-zaya). Silver-foil habaki.
Strong points
- Ubu tang signed 兼貞 (Kanesada), with a single mekugi-ana
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers
- Horimono on both faces of the blade
- Complete late-Edo koshirae with dragon and tiger in shibuichi
- Shirasaya with a recent sayagaki by Tanobe
Points to bear in mind
- The third generation is an attribution by the original seller; the papers identify only Kanesada of Seki.
- The listing does not state the condition of the blade or the date of its polish.
- The dating of the koshirae is the seller's estimate based on the style of its fittings; the photographs show small lacquer chips on the saya near the mouth.
Score
122.7 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin +25
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
+35
Antique mounting, from another period than the blade +35
-
Blade
+5
68.8 cm: close to the usable range +5
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+7.7
Price: the more affordable, the more points +7.7
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
- 68.8 cm
- Sori
- 1.6 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Period mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Hachiya Kanesada
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- Eishō era (1504–1521)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,1 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,2 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,65 cm
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