Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Katana by Osafune Katsumitsu dated Tenbun 5 (1536), with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, in an uchigatana koshirae with fittings by Bukawa Ikkan, and with shirasaya.
Katana by Katsumitsu of the Osafune school in Bizen province, dated the second month of Tenbun 5 (1536), late Muromachi period. According to the original seller, it is a work of Jirōzaemon no Jō Katsumitsu, based on the close similarity of the signature to documented blades by this smith. It measures 66.6 cm in nagasa with 2.58 cm of sori, with a wide mihaba and pronounced koshi-zori. The seller describes a ko-itame jigane mixed with mokume, thick ji-nie and utsuri, and a hamon of gunome with chōji and koshi-hiraki shapes, with kinsuji and sunagashi; the photographs show this irregular gunome along the whole blade. The tang bears the signature 備前國住長舩勝光作 (Bizen no kuni jū Osafune Katsumitsu saku) and, on the ura, the date 天文五年二月吉日 (Tenbun gonen nigatsu kichijitsu); it has three mekugi-ana. It comes in an uchigatana koshirae with a black lacquered saya sprinkled with mother-of-pearl (aogai mijin) and shakudō and gold fittings bearing chrysanthemum and paulownia crests, attributed by the seller to Bukawa Ikkan, whose signature can be read on the tsuba. It includes a shirasaya with sayagaki, a gilt double Higo-style habaki and, according to the seller, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Strong points
- Signed and dated blade, Tenbun 5 (1536), Osafune school of Bizen
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, according to the original seller
- Uchigatana koshirae with shakudō and gold fittings bearing chrysanthemum and paulownia crests; tsuba signed by Bukawa Ikkan
- Black lacquered saya with mother-of-pearl (aogai mijin)
- Includes shirasaya with sayagaki and gilt double Higo-style habaki
Points to bear in mind
- The tang has three mekugi-ana and the listing does not state whether it is unaltered.
- The blade's certificate does not appear in the photographs.
- The listing makes no explicit statement about the blade's condition.
- The listing mentions a Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu certificate for the daishō set with a matching wakizashi koshirae, which is not stated to be included with this piece.
Score
122.2 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+10
Tang intact according to the photographs +20 · 1 extra mekugi-ana −10
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
+51
Antique mounting, from another period than the blade +35 · signed fittings: 1 +10 · family crests (mon): 2 +6
-
Blade
0
66.6 cm: outside the usable range 0
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+1.2
Price: the more affordable, the more points +1.2
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
- 66.6 cm
- Sori
- 2.6 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Period mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Osafune Katsumitsu
- Period
- Kotō (up to 1596)
- Dating
- 2nd month of Tenbun 5 (1536)
- Province
- Bizen
- Mekugi-ana
- 3
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,15 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,06 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,79 cm
- Shinogi-kasane
- 0,82 cm
- Length when mounted
- 96,35 cm
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