Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shinshintō katana from Dewa province, signed and dated 1824, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers, shirasaya and a kinnashiji-lacquered koshirae.
Katana by Ikeda Isshū Nyūdō Ryūken, a swordsmith of Dewa province active in the late Edo period. According to the original seller, he was a pupil of Suishinshi Masahide, the driving force of the shinshintō movement, and served as official smith to the Shōnai domain. The blade has a nagasa of 72.3 cm and a sori of 1.8 cm, and the photographs show an undulating hamon based on notare. The tang, intact in the photographs with its original tip and a single mekugi-ana, bears on the omote the signature 出羽國住池田一秀入道龍軒 (Dewa no kuni-jū Ikeda Isshū Nyūdō Ryūken) and on the ura the date 文政七年八月日 (Bunsei shichinen hachigatsu hi). The blade is kept in a shirasaya with sayagaki and comes with a koshirae: a mokkō-shaped tsuba with inome openings and gold autumn-grass decoration, fuchi-kashira with waves, crescent moon and plovers, a tsuka with same and dark wrapping, and a saya in kinnashiji-nuri lacquer. The original seller describes the fittings but does not date them. The blade holds NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers (no. 1026455), issued in 2026. The original seller notes a kitae kizu on the blade.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers (no. 1026455)
- Signed and dated: 8th month of Bunsei 7 (1824)
- Pupil of Suishinshi Masahide, according to the original seller
- Tang intact in the photographs, with a single mekugi-ana
- Comes with shirasaya and a kinnashiji-nuri lacquered koshirae
Points to bear in mind
- The original seller declares a kitae kizu on the blade, without stating its size or position.
- The mounting is described but not dated by the original seller.
- A small chip is declared on the dajiri of the habaki and in the lacquer of the kojiri.
- The tsuka wrapping and the sageo look clean and taut in the photographs and appear to be renewed.
Score
111.3 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
−5
The original seller declares flaws 0 · small kitae-ware, away from the edge −5
-
Signature and date
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
−5
Mounting described, undated +5 · rewrapped ito −5 · new sageo −5
-
Blade
+10
72.3 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+11.3
Price: the more affordable, the more points +11.3
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
- 72.3 cm
- Sori
- 1.8 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 8th month of Bunsei 7 (1824)
- Province
- Dewa
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Minor flaws declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
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