Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana signed by Nagao Masataka, a smith of Aizu, around the Keiō era, with an ubu tang and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers. Kept in shirasaya, without mountings.
Katana by Nagao Masataka, a smith of Aizu in Mutsu province. According to the original seller he was born in 1817, trained under the third generation of Motooki and left few works between the Ansei and Keiō eras; he died in 1894. The blade is shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune and a slightly extended chū-kissaki, wide and thick in kasane, with a nagasa of 70 cm and 1.2 cm of sori. The original seller describes a tight ko-itame jigane with ji-nie and chikei, and a nie-based hamon of yahazu-ba alternating with gunome, with kinsuji; the photographs show a regular undulating hamon along the whole blade. The tang is ubu, with sujikai file marks, an iriyamagata tip and a single mekugi-ana, and bears the signature 會津住長尾将尊作 (Aizu-jū Nagao Masataka saku); the ura carries no inscription. The NBTHK recognised it as Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken in December 2022 and places it around the Keiō era. It is kept in shirasaya, with a silver-plated copper habaki with Yūjō file work on its lower part; it has no mountings.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers (2022)
- Signed ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana
- Scarce work by an Aizu smith of the late Edo period
- Wide blade with thick kasane and a robust shape
- Yahazu-ba and gunome hamon with kinsuji, according to the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- No mountings: the blade is kept only in shirasaya.
- The listing does not state the condition of the blade or the date of the polish.
- Undated: the attribution to the Keiō era comes from the papers.
Score
100 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
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
70 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+30
Price: the more affordable, the more points +30
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
- 70 cm
- Sori
- 1.2 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Nagao Masataka
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- Keiō era (1865–1868)
- Province
- Mutsu
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,4 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,3 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,7 cm