Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Ideta of the Dōtanuki school of Higo, signed and with an ubu tang, circa the Tenshō era, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper and a shirasaya bearing a sayagaki by Tanobe Tanzan according to the original seller.
Katana signed 肥州藤原住出田作 (Hishū Fujiwara-jū Ideta saku), the work of Ideta, a smith of the Dōtanuki school of Higo province who is not recorded in the signature registers. According to the original seller he worked around the Tenshō era, in the early phase of the school, and the signature reverses the usual order 肥州住藤原 (Hishū-jū Fujiwara), a slip typical of the period. The blade, 72.1 cm long with 2.4 cm of sori, is shinogi-zukuri with an iori-mune, wide and thick, with pronounced saki-zori and an extended chū-kissaki: the robust form visible in the photographs. The original seller describes itame mixed with mokume and chikei, and a suguha-based hamon in gentle notare with gunome, shimaba, tobiyaki, kinsuji, sunagashi and muneyaki. The tang is ubu, with a kurijiri tip, katte-sagari yasurime and a single mekugi-ana, as the photographs confirm. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, issued in 2026, attributes it 伝同田貫 (den Dōtanuki). It is kept in a shirasaya with a sayagaki by Tanobe Tanzan, according to the original seller; there is no koshirae.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper (2026)
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana and full signature
- Rare work by an early Dōtanuki smith, of robust form
- Shirasaya with a sayagaki by Tanobe Tanzan, according to the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- Old polish: the original seller declares fine scratches and rubbing (hike and sure)
- No koshirae: the blade is kept in shirasaya only
- The shirasaya and its sayagaki do not appear in the photographs
Score
92.4 pointscurrent max. 255
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Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin +25
-
Declared condition
−10
The original seller declares flaws 0 · minor flaws −10
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
−15
No mounting −15
-
Blade
+10
72.1 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+12.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +12.4
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
- 72.1 cm
- Sori
- 2.4 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- No mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Dōtanuki Ideta
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- Circa Tenshō era (1573–1592)
- Province
- Higo
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Minor flaws declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3,3 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,1 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,75 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,5 cm