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5/03
6. Chojusai Toshikazu
Type: Tanto
Mei: Chojusai Toshikazu Saku kore
Period: Shinshinto
Location: Edo
Length: 31.7 cm. Sori: 0.3 cm.
Sugata: hira-zukuri
Hamon: suguha with thick ko-nie
Jihada: well forged, tightly knit itame with chikei,
jinie
In fresh polish, with new shirasaya with silver habaki
Price: $6,000US
Toshikazu was a student of the famous shinshinto smith Chounsai Tsunatoshi. He worked in Yotsuya, Tokyo and was employed as the Saijo Han smith. His blades are rare as he worked at towards the end of the Edo period, and was put out of work by the Meiji Restoration.
This blade is flawless, with a beautiful, nie covered ji. The ha is bright and clear, with a deep, soft, ko-nie habuchi. This is a first class work equal to that of his well-known teacher.
The blade is in fresh polish, with new shirasaya and silver habaki. It hasn't yet been submitted to shinsa, but I guarantee NBTHK Hozon.
Images:
full length
blade jigane boshi mei
7. Minamoto Sadateru (Gassan Sadaichi)
Type: Katana
Mei: Minamoto Sadateru Koki 2604 Nen (1944)
Period: Kindai
Location: Osaka
Length: 67.8 cm. Sori: 1.7 cm.
Sugata: shinogi-zukuri
Hamon: suguha based with gunome; thick ko-nie, sunagashi
Jihada: tightly knit masame with chikei, jinie
In fresh polish, with new shirasaya with silver habaki
Price: SOLD
This is a very rare work of the former Ningen Kokuho (Living National Treasure) Gassan Sadaichi, made at the Osaka Rikugun Zoheisho during the war. He worked at the Zoheisho, instructing and occasionally making blades for the army in the late war years. He changed his mei from Sadamitsu to Sadateru in late1944. Very few blades were made with this signature; one was displayed as part of the Ningen Kokuho Gassan Sadaichi Kaiko Ten (retrospective exhibition) in 1996 at the Nara Prefectural Museum, and published in the exhibit catalog.
The blade is done in the Yamato style, with masame hada. It is an oversized blade-both thicker and wider than the average gunto of the period. The kissaki is stretched as well, and all together has a very imposing sugata. It has several masame ware, which are considered normal and acceptable in a pure masame blade. They look more like thin scratches, and do little to detract from the presence of this blade.
War era works by the former Living National Treasure smiths Miyairi Akihira, Takahashi Sadatsugu are also rare and highly sought after. Those by Sadaichi are even scarcer; according to the exhibit catalog written by Gassan Sadatoshi, there were probably only a few, at most, of these Sadateru signed works ever made.
The blade is in fresh polish, with new shirasaya and silver habaki. It hasn't yet been submitted to shinsa, but I guarantee NBTHK Hozon. This is the holy grail for those collecting the Gassan smiths.
Images:
full length blade-omote full length blade-ura habaki-moto jigane boshi mei nenki
Type: Katana
Kanteisho: NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
Mei: (Kiku mon) Yamashiro no Kami Fujiwara Nobutoshi
Period: Shinto
Location: Osaka
Length: 74.0 cm. Sori: 1.8 cm.
Sugata: shinogi-zukuri
Hamon: suguha based with thick ko-nie, sunagashi
Jihada: itame with chikei, jinie
In fresh polish, with new shirasaya and gold habaki
Price: SOLD
Nobutoshi's name was Kuroda Kiyozaemon, and he lived and worked at Himeji, near the famous castle, in Harima. He worked around the Tenwa period (1681), and is thought to be a student from the Shinano no Kami Nobuyoshi school. He is rated as Chu-saku by Fujishiro and his blades are rated wazamono for sharpness.
This is a large and powerful blade. It is unusual to find a blade of this size that wasn't shortened at some point, particularly for service in WWII. It is exceptionally healthy; the nakago is pristine, with a rich, warm patina that looks like a chocolate bar. The jiba is well done, with a thick ko-nie habuchi lining a wide suguha. This blade has that undefinable quality called "presence".
The blade is in fresh polish, with new shirasaya and gold habaki. It has NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon kanteisho. Additionally, the blade has been published in the NTHK journal Token To Rekishi.
Images:
full length blade-omote full length blade-ura habaki-moto jigane jiba mei
