Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana of the Osafune school of Bizen, signed Sukesada and dated the 8th month of Eiroku 10 (1567), with an ubu tang, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper and shirasaya.
A blade of the Osafune school of Bizen province, by one of the smiths who signed Sukesada in the late Muromachi period, the era known as Sue-Bizen. The tang is ubu, with kiri yasurime and a single mekugi-ana; the omote bears the signature 備前国住長船祐定作之 (Bizen no kuni-jū Osafune Sukesada kore o saku) and the ura the date 永禄十年八月吉日 (Eiroku jūnen hachigatsu kichijitsu). It measures 69.0 cm in nagasa with 2.2 cm of sori, in shinogi-zukuri with iori-mune and chū-kissaki, wide and of good thickness. According to the original seller, the jigane is itame mixed with mokume, partly nagare, with ji-nie and a soft utsuri; the hamon combines koshi-hiraki gunome, ko-gunome, togariba and the so-called kani no tsume-ba, with ashi, yō and tobiyaki and a bright nioiguchi; the bōshi is midarekomi with a rounded turn-back. The photographs clearly show the open-based gunome with its ashi. The seller describes the blade as healthy and of robust shape. It is kept in shirasaya with a two-piece gold-foiled habaki, and comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper issued in 1986. It has no mounting.
Strong points
- Ubu tang, signed and dated Eiroku 10 (1567)
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper
- Typical Sue-Bizen hamon with open-based gunome and kani no tsume-ba
- Wide, robust blade, declared healthy by the original seller
- Shirasaya and two-piece gold-foiled habaki
Points to bear in mind
- No mounting: offered in shirasaya only.
- The signature does not specify which of the many Sukesada smiths of the period forged the blade.
- The listing does not declare a recent polish.
Score
141.6 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
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
69 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+11.6
Price: the more affordable, the more points +11.6
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
- 69 cm
- Sori
- 2.2 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Osafune Sukesada
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- 8th month of Eiroku 10 (1567)
- Province
- Bizen
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,18 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,40 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,89 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,65 cm