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Gassan Sadakazu Value

Heringsdorf

By Heringsdorf
in Nihonto

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Jussi Ekholm Veteran

Jussi Ekholm

Posted
Posted

I think I would try to approach this by looking up for what prices Gassan Sadakazu tanto have been for sale & sold in lets say around 5 last years. With this research you might get a good bunch of data, and you could try to compare the tanto in question against this small database.

Heringsdorf Rising Star

Heringsdorf

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I think I would try to approach this by looking up for what prices Gassan Sadakazu tanto have been for sale & sold in lets say around 5 last years. With this research you might get a good bunch of data, and you could try to compare the tanto in question against this small database.

I tried that, but all I can find is "Sold" no actual amount.

Derek Rising Star

Derek

Posted
Posted

Shot in the dark....

$8,000 plus or minus a few thousand?

Sorry, not my usual focus.  I believe that a member here sold a katana from him around Christmas for $10,000, which went very fast.

Jussi Ekholm Veteran

Jussi Ekholm

Posted
Posted

I should have been asleep for a good while now but I got hooked on timetravelling on web archive. :laughing:  It's an amazing tool for tracking down things. Of course I ended up surfing and searching many old tachi as I got carried away...

 

As I focus on older swords I haven't searched more modern swords in a while. Here are few more tanto to give you some idea, with more digging I am sure you can find many more examples. I couldn't be too picky about papers as I wanted to give you a small bunch so you have some start.

 

600,000 Y http://web.archive.org/web/20130915030839/http://www.aoijapan.com/tanto-gassan-sadakazu-kokuin-engraved-mark

800,000 Y http://katananokura.jp/SHOP/1512-T01.html

480,000 Y https://web.archive.org/web/20141110100339/http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2015/1510_3005syousai.htm

780,000 Y http://www.seiyudo.com/ta-011112.htm

730,000 Y http://www.seiyudo.com/ta-08121.htm

  • 2 weeks later...
Darcy Mentor

Darcy

Posted
Posted

1. Sanmei one will pass Tokubetsu Hozon easily

2. Seiyudo #1 is 18.5cm and that is a problem for value

3. Seiyudo #2 is 21.5cm and again is a problem for value (ok with koto, but making the shinshinto tanto short does not make them premium pieces)

4. Ken do not relate to tanto for pricing though they are similar size. 

5. katananokura is also 21.5cm 

 

So these are with the exception of the Sanmei ones either not applicable (ken) or represent the low side, not because the pieces are bad but they are certainly less desirable. So I'd say starting here and going up. 

 

In the end it all depends on what you have. Good quality? Best work? Length is premium? Koshirae, do they exist and are they any good? 

  • 3 months later...
sakura_matsuri_antiques Apprentice

sakura_matsuri_antiques

Posted
Posted

Hallo Heringsdorf,

sorry for this late answer but i just subscribed.

I don't know if forum rules allow to post a sword that is for sale for comparison so i won't.

To assign a value to a sword is already a difficult task, to assign it to a virtual item it's an impossible task. Benjamin Vincent published a "study of the works of Gassan Sadakazu" for The Metropolitan musem of Arts in 1972 (The Metropolitan Museum Journal, Volume 5, 1972) which i attach here. Conditions (rust, chips, jizukare...), quality (or ji, hada or ware...), hataraki (sunagashi, kinsuji...), period (first or later works by the artist...) are all aspects to be considered while examining a sword but it's not enough. As Benjamin Vinced underlined on his study, with Sadakazu there are more features to be taken into consideration: one of these is what's on nakago. There are three main features that can be found on a Sadakazu nakago:

 

- mei: 月山貞一造 (Gassan Sadakazu tsukuru), 月山源貞一造 (Gassan Minamoto Sadakazu tsukuru) etc.

- Kao: Gassan family kao is carved arter the signature and depicts an owl with "貞" (sada) kanji inside.

- Commission: when a blade was forged on commission he usually carved the details on ura side.

 

Therefore to help yourself judging a Sadakazu blade's quality, from lower to higher, (this is an absolutely inaccurate guess, only good for theory!) you can look if on its nakago is carved the mei alone, the mei with kao or the mei with kao and commission.

Again, mine is just a hint to be used on boring sunday evening while having fun surfing nihonto websites. Gassan Sadakazu works' value can range from 500k Yen to over 2M Yen so the only way to judge a Japanese blade is taking time to carefully examine all its features.

Regards,

Emiliano

Extract from The_Metropolitan_Museum_Journal_v_5_1972.pdf

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