Gassan Sadakatsu with Imperial ties

[Surfson]

Good looking Sadakatsu tanto sold today on Live Auctioneers.  Thought I would capture a few photos for the NMB.  Hammer was $7250, making the total close to $10K once premium, taxes, shipping and fees are paid.   Looks like a nice piece, but no papers.   

[BIG]

Yes, Stephen promised result..

[Surfson]

Oh, sorry Stephen if I missed that!

 

[TheGermanBastard]

Who cares for papers. This is from top to toe a 100% textbook work with Gassan Habaki, box etc. Papers are fully obsolete on this piece. Price is however no bargain but close to retail.

[Surfson]

Luis, you are one of the few that don't care about papers.  Even those who have 100% confidence that a piece is shoshin.   Selling unpapered blades with big names is problematic.  

[TheGermanBastard]

Come on Bob, that is just my worthless oppinion but even if a well known idiot like me can tell this is a signed text book example then why would a much smarter person not? On a blade like this there is no room for questions, uncertainity nor interpretation left. So why care for papers? As I said before I am an idiot but not so dumb as I would waste any money or getting confirmed by whoever to what is obvious.

[Stephen]

Hey everyone is right here, no wrong answers.

No worries Papa Smurf, i posted that total on Peters show us the sale page.

[TheGermanBastard]

1 hour ago, Surfson said:

Luis, you are one of the few that don't care about papers.  Even those who have 100% confidence that a piece is shoshin.   Selling unpapered blades with big names is problematic.  

 

To make sure there are no misunderstandings: Papers do make sense in many cases (on higher priced items) especially when wanting to sell. If somebody offered be for example a signed Murmasa I would insist on recent NBTHK papers - atleast when the asking prices is that of a papered one ... but in this case it is like you are maried to a top model and wanted someone else to confirm your wife is fine looking-. I would not care to find a 3rd party confirm that ...

[Surfson]

Luis, I knew that you really didn't mean it!!!    If you did, I have a Masamune for you......    Cheers, Bob

[mdiddy]

Congrats to the buyer!

[Volker62]

great purchase!

 

 

without any question...

[Surfson]

Volker, I prefer the one that you helped me to buy!   Teishitsu Gigein and it was his father.  

[Volker62]

with pleasure Bob...!

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Just as an aside, that habaki is probably silver gilt rather than solid gold. The patination suggests this as well. Solid gold Gassan habakis are very, very rare. The photos of the nakago aren't very clear, but the nakago jiri is very unusual for Sadakatsu. I am not crying gimei, especially with such low res photos, but I guess this just highlights the variation you can get in these features.

Cheers,

Bryce

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Bryce, if memory serves me correctly the only solid gold Gassan Habaki one finds regularly are Onkashi-To (Imperial Gift). 

[Alex A]

At first glance and leaving it there. I really dont like the look of the inscription and without papers it wouldnt be for me.

 

The mei itself, again, could not buy from these images 

 

Something odd about it.

 

Blade looks ok.

[Shugyosha]

The hada doesn’t look refined enough for the real deal to me. The layers seem too thick and it’s neither true ayasugi hada nor masame hada. It just doesn’t quite fit quality wise for the event it is supposed to commemorate and the person that we are told commissioned it. 
 

http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2014/14615-1.jpg

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Here is another one that AOIJapan had last year.

 

John, this is Sadakatsu's soshu style hada. It sort of resembles a mix of his masame and ayasugi. As with all of his hada, he made different versions, some with very fine layers and some with thick layers like this example. I don't think this example can be gimei. It must just be the poor quality photos which make both the nakago jiri and his kao look odd.

Cheers,

Bryce

[Bryce]

G'day Guys,

Here is a closeup of the habaki. You can see it is actually gold foil, identical to the AOIJapan example above.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[Alex A]

Im wondering if someone got a hold of a school mumei example and got inventive.

 

Was this auction in Japan ?

[Stephen]

Student Of Sadakatsu... Sadahiro if you collect lineage.

 

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/d1006824840?

[Stephen]

SADAHIRO (貞弘), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Nara – “Kita Minamoto Sadahiro”

(喜多源貞弘), “Washū Ikaruga-jū Minamoto Sadahiro” (和州斑鳩住源貞弘), “Yamato no 

Kuni Yagyū-shō Minamoto Sadahiro” (大和国柳生庄源 貞弘), real name Kita Hiroshi 

(喜多弘), born February 9th 1922, he entered in 1939 an apprenticeship with Gassan Sadakatsu 

(月山貞勝) and worked from 1943 as kaigun-

[Surfson]

I have heard that circular carving pattern on the habaki referred to as Gassan pattern.

[Bryce]

G'day Bob,

It is definitely a pattern favoured by the Gassan smiths. There are different variations of it, but it consists, of a series of bare patches within a cat-scratch background, arranged in lines. Here is my silver gilt, Gassan Sadakatsu habaki. Does any one know what this pattern represents or how it came about?

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[Surfson]

Thanks Bryce.  I think that this likely also supports that the blade in question is shoshin.

[Volker62]

if you think about logic, it would be quite an effort, if this Tanto with all its accessories would be a fake...

 

 

the Hada looks a bit ????

[Surfson]

Looks more like Norishige, right Volker?   Or Uda.  It may just be the polish.

[Volker62]

Bob

 

 in my humble opinion, not not exactly typical for this smith ?

[Surfson]

Well, I am used to ayasugi or masame with Sadakazu and Sadakatsu Volker, but they do branch out.   I have a blade done by Sadakazu that was done in Soshu style as a Masamune utsushi, and it looks nothing like the typical sword of his.  

[Volker62]

well said Robert

 

Gassan Sadkatsu  was one of the few who, clould manufacture in every tradition..