Kantei

NH-1013 Rank 102

Hōjōji Echizen no Kami Tachibana Masateru

Shintō-period katana signed by Hōjōji Masateru with a kiku-mon, ubu tang, uchigatana koshirae with black lacquered saya and a declared Tokubetsu Hozon paper.

Shintō (1596-1780)Jōkyō era (1684–1688)MusashiNBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

Katana signed by Hōjōji Echizen no Kami Tachibana Masateru, a smith of the Hōjōji school of Musashi in the Shintō period. According to the original seller, he studied under Hōjōji Masahiro and the second-generation Iga no Kami Kinmichi, and later settled in Akita. The blade has a nagasa of 70.5 cm and a sori of 2.4 cm; it is honzukuri with an iori-mune, wide and robust, with an ō-kissaki. The seller describes a ko-itame with mokume, well forged and tight, with dense ji-nie and chikei; a hiro-suguha hamon undulating into notare with gunome, deep nioi and ko-nie, with ashi, yō, kinsuji, inazuma and sunagashi; and a hakikake bōshi in tsukiage. The photographs show an ubu nakago with a single mekugi-ana and, on the omote, the kiku-mon above the signature 法城寺越前守橘正照 (Hōjōji Echizen no Kami Tachibana Masateru); the ura carries no date. It comes with an uchigatana koshirae with a black roiro lacquered saya, a tsuka wrapped in black ito and a pierced iron tsuba with a torii and pine design, and, according to the seller, a shirasaya. The seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.

Strong points

  • Full signature with kiku-mon and the title Echizen no Kami
  • Ubu nakago with a single mekugi-ana
  • Wide, robust blade with ō-kissaki and a very active hamon, according to the seller
  • Complete uchigatana koshirae with black lacquered saya and pierced iron tsuba
  • NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the seller

Points to bear in mind

  • The Tokubetsu Hozon paper does not appear in the photographs
  • The mounting is undated; the ito looks tight and clean, probably rewrapped
  • The shirasaya is listed by the seller but does not appear in any photograph
  • The tang bears no engraved date: the Jōkyō era is an attributed dating

Score breakdown

57.3/100

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).

  1. Signature and date 10 of 18 Signed, with no engraved date
  2. Tang 22 of 22 Tang intact according to the seller at origin
  3. Mounting 0 of 18 Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin · restored: rewrapped ito
  4. Declared condition 11 of 20 Condition not declared
  5. Blade 8 of 8 70.5 cm: within the usable range
  6. Shirasaya 4 of 4 With a storage shirasaya
  7. Price 2.3 of 10 Rank 124 of 161 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest