Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Uda Kunimune of Etchū province, around the Kanbun era, with a signed ubu tang and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers. Offered in shirasaya.
The blade is signed 宇多國宗 (Uda Kunimune) on the omote of the tang, and the NBTHK attributes it to the Kunimune working around the Kanbun era in its Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers. The Uda school arose in Etchū at the end of the Kamakura period, founded by smiths who came from the Uda district of Yamato, and the name Kunimune was carried on over several generations. It measures 71.2 cm in nagasa with 1.3 cm of sori: shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune and chū-kissaki, with the marked taper and restrained curvature typical of the Kanbun style. According to the original seller, the jigane is a fine, tight itame with nagare-hada and abundant ji-nie; the hamon combines gunome, togari-ba and notare, with ashi, sunagashi, tobiyaki and yubashiri, and the bōshi runs in midare and turns back with hakikake. The photographs show the undulating gunome with a pronounced nie edge. The tang is ubu, with sujikai file marks and one mekugi-ana. The blade is kept in shirasaya with a one-piece gold-foiled habaki and has no mounting. The original seller describes it as a healthy blade.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken papers, issued in Reiwa 4 (2022)
- Ubu tang signed 宇多國宗 (Uda Kunimune), with sujikai file marks
- Gunome and notare hamon with a pronounced nie edge, Sōshū in feeling according to the original seller
- Kanbun sugata: shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune and chū-kissaki
- Declared healthy by the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- Offered in shirasaya only, without koshirae.
- The papers place it around the Kanbun era without specifying the smith's generation.
Score
142 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
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
71.2 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+22
Price: the more affordable, the more points +22
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
- 71.2 cm
- Sori
- 1.3 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Uda Kunimune
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Kanbun era (1661–1673)
- Province
- Etchu
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,22 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,35 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,87 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,55 cm