Thank you, this is exactly the kind of assessment I was hoping for.
The 迷い鏨 observation is really helpful. I wouldn’t have known to look for hesitation in the strokes, and now that you point it out I can see the unevenness in the chiselling.
The auction comparables are sobering. A papered Hozon Kunishige wakizashi at $943 and a gimei katana with koshirae and green paper at $1,579 puts the $4,600 asking price in a completely different light. That’s roughly three times what these actually clear at.
Two follow-up questions if you don’t mind:
1. You mentioned the hitatsura is interesting, is the blade itself likely to be a decent piece of work under the wrong signature? I’m curious whether there’s a school or period it might attribute to on its own merits.
2. What would you consider a fair price for this blade as a gimei with koshirae, given it’s already located in my country so there’s no import cost or risk?
I’ll be going back to the seller with a much lower offer. Genuinely grateful, you’ve saved me a considerable amount of money.
