Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Niō Masakiyo dated 1681, with a cutting test inscribed on the tang and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers according to the original seller. Kept in shirasaya.
Niō Masakiyo worked in Nagato province in the second half of the 17th century, within the Niō tradition, whose name was a byword for cutting ability. According to the original seller, he served the Chōfu branch of the Mōri house. The blade is wide with a thick kasane, a chū-kissaki and deep machi; the photographs show a regular, undulating hamon along the whole blade. The seller describes a tightly forged ko-itame jigane with ji-nie and a hamon of chōji and gunome with nie, kinsuji and sunagashi. The tang, short and intact in the photographs, has one mekugi-ana. The omote is signed 長州住二王方清作之 (Chōshū-jū Niō Masakiyo kore o saku); the ura bears the date 延宝九年八月吉日 (Enpō kyūnen hachigatsu kichijitsu) and the cutting test 大車於眼前切断之 (Ōguruma ganzen ni oite kore o setsudan su), signed by the tester Taga Jirōemon Yoshifusa. According to the original seller, the blade holds NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers and is published in the Bōchō Tōkō Oshigata-shū. It comes with a gold-foiled double habaki and is kept in shirasaya; there is no koshirae.
Strong points
- Signed and dated: 8th month of Enpō 9 (1681)
- Cutting test inscribed on the ura of the tang, with the tester's name
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, according to the original seller
- Published in the Bōchō Tōkō Oshigata-shū
- Tang intact in the photographs, with a single mekugi-ana
- Gold-foiled double habaki and shirasaya
Points to bear in mind
- No koshirae: the blade is offered in shirasaya
- The certificate does not appear in the photographs
- The listing does not describe the condition of the blade
- The cutting test is inscribed on the tang but is not certified by the NBTHK
Score
99.4 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
71.1 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+24.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +24.4
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
- 71.1 cm
- Sori
- 1.5 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Niō Masakiyo
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- 8th month of Enpō 9 (1681)
- Province
- Suo
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Cutting test
- 大車於眼前切断之 多賀二郎右衛門喜房 (Ōguruma ganzen ni oite kore o setsudan su, Taga Jirōemon Yoshifusa)The NBTHK does not rule on the cutting test: the inscription is on the tang and is not part of the paper.
- Motohaba
- 3,09 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,7 cm
- Shinogi-kasane
- 0,73 cm