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Katana Takada auction house find

French nihonto

By French nihonto
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French nihonto

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Hello community. 
I buy most of my blades with these papers from well-known dealers. But sometimes I wander around the auctions of small auction houses. Thinking that sometimes a treasure might be hidden there. Most of these blades are tired or not very interesting. I bought this one based on a bad photo, but sometimes risks pay off and I took the risk of buying it. Once I received it I was pleasantly surprised. The blade has a Mei "Bungo Takada-ju Fujiwara Hiroyuki-saku" from memory never heard of this blacksmith. Any thoughts? The Koshirae is Edo period and of high quality. The blade is clean and well polished. Nagasa 69,2cm. 
Reflections? 
Max

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BIG Grand Master

BIG

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One hit..

 

Markus have him on page 82, Lexikon der japanischen Schwertschmiede A-M

 

Hiroyuki, Kan`ei 1624-1644, Bungo -„ Bungo -ju Fujiwara Hiroyuki“, Hoshu Takada-ju Fujiwara Hiroyuki, Fujiwara-Takada Schule

 

Best

PS that costs you a BIG beer and quarterpounder

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French nihonto Collaborator

French nihonto

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25 minutes ago, BIG said:

One hit..

 

Markus have him on page 82, Lexikon der japanischen Schwertschmiede A-M

 

Hiroyuki, Kan`ei 1624-1644, Bungo -„ Bungo -ju Fujiwara Hiroyuki“, Hoshu Takada-ju Fujiwara Hiroyuki, Fujiwara-Takada Schule

 

Best

PS that costs you a BIG beer and quarterpounder

I'll buy you a case of beer, Peter.:laughing:
Mei sound good?  Although a gimei from such an obscure blacksmith is unlikely. 
I didn't pay much so it might be a good hit. 

French nihonto Collaborator

French nihonto

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Il y a 7 minutes, Stephen a dit :

Est-ce censé ne pas avoir de tsuba ?

Belle épée.

The Koshirae has a tsuba, but I suspect it's not the original tsuba, as it's not of the same quality as the rest. It must have been replaced. 

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Geraint Grand Master

Geraint

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Dear Maxime.

 

Ubu Shinto katana, signed, fully restored and in koshirae, you did well.  I would have no qualms about the mei on this one. If the tsuba is a problem you can always find another at your leisure.  I can't help feeling that after someone has cared for this sword so well there is probably a paper somewhere for it.

 

From your hints I am very sure that I do not want to know how much you had to pay for it!:)

 

All the best.

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French nihonto Collaborator

French nihonto

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7 minutes ago, Geraint said:

I can't help feeling that after someone has cared for this sword so well there is probably a paper somewhere for it.

 

From your hints I am very sure that I do not want to know how much you had to pay for it!:)

Yes, I also think that a paper was lost. And I'm very curious to know what paper she had. :)

I'm lucky I didn't pay much. Hence my surprise the first time I had it in my hands. 

French nihonto Collaborator

French nihonto

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Il y a 5 minutes, Stephen a dit :

Comme c'est souvent le cas lorsqu'il y a un bon tsuba sur une épée.

All I have to do now is find a quality tsuba. :rire :
And maybe pass on the shinsa blade if it's worth the cost. 

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Jussi Ekholm Veteran

Jussi Ekholm

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I tried looking the smith in Bungo book, unfortunately no oshigata for the smith and just 1 very short line of info on him, period etc. same that Markus has on his index.

 

I would think it as genuine as the signature style & nakago to me would seem plausible compared to other Fujiwara Takada smiths around this period. Looking at the pictures it seems like you got a good sword there even though the maker is quite unknown. :)

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French nihonto Collaborator

French nihonto

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48 minutes ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

 

I tried looking the smith in Bungo book, unfortunately no oshigata for the smith and just 1 very short line of info on him, period etc. same that Markus has on his index

 

Yes, I haven't found much on this blacksmith. Very very obscure blacksmith. Good candidate for shinsa, no? 

French nihonto Collaborator

French nihonto

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I just discovered a small, very angular notch on the mune of the blade. 5 centimetres from the Habaki. taking pictures of it is complicated. But it's a neat triangle that's deeper than it is wide. Battle mark in your opinion? 
 

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Jussi Ekholm Veteran

Jussi Ekholm

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I think one downside of shinsa is the cost in sending from Europe to Japan & back. Of course it would be nice to have the item & signature verified but I am not sure if it will be financially positive outcome. I haven't sent anything to shinsa so I am not best in giving advice but of course it would be great to have verification for the item.

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French nihonto Collaborator

French nihonto

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It’s true that sending a blade to Japan from Europe is becoming more and more complicated. Apart from blades which are almost certain to pass Juyo, it is less and less worth the cost. I hope that one day some NBTHK shinsa sessions with paper delivery will be carried out in Europe.

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