A Hizen Daito

[mywei]

Hi all,

 

Been on a quest to acquire a mainline Hizen katana for a little while. I think I've finally achieved a (IMHO) decent acquisition, and a very interesting historical reference point for Hizento enthusiasts. Dated as being forged Manji 4/Kanbun 1 due to the mei.

 

Please allow me to share with you guys.

 

P.S Forgive my ****house photography skills.

 

Nagasa- 2 shaku 5 sun

Sori- 1.2cm

Kasane 0.68cm

Ko-maru (Hizen) boshi

Konuka hada

Hamon - Chu-suguha

 

There is an area of shintetsu I believe on the omote side.

 

[Greg F]

Hi Matt congratulations on the nice sword. The hada is easy to stare into and nice lines too. Any koshirae close ups? Thank you for sharing. Cheers.

 

Greg

[Prewar70]

Matt, I will hedge my bet here because this is all so new but I have been doing some reading on Tadayoshi  .  Please correct me where I'm wrong. 

 

Hizen kuni mutsu no kami fujiwara Tadayoshi.  This is a rare signature for the Sandai to have used and not many examples.  Maybe only used for a short time around 1660/61?  Using Roger's extensive research, he signed fujiwara distinctly from the Shodai with a few different/extra strokes.  And I believe the mutsu is somewhat unique when he signed using fujiwara too.

 

Not sure if that is the historical piece you were referring to or not.  I've seen this mei before, pulled it off the web somewhere and have a picture of it in my notebook.  At least it looks almost identical to yours. 

[mywei]

Hi James,

 

Attached a pic of the nakago and sugata. Yasurime slants slightly.

 

Indeed the 'Mutsu Kami Fujiwara Tadayoshi' is rare as far as I know. On the sayagaki, Kanzan mentions 'Ninkan Chokugo ni' circa Manji year 4, meaning right after he upgraded from Mutsu Daijo to Mutsu no Kami.

 

Will take some pics of koshirae when I get a sec

[Brian]

Lovely hada in that second photo

Have you run a few pics past Roger yet?

[Darcy]

Is it papered? 

[mywei]

Hi Darcy,

 

It's got TH papers.

[Prewar70]

What an incredible and beautiful sword.  I'd love to see more pics if you feel up to it.  Not sure how much you want to share but curious if this came from a dealer or private party.  Was it hidden away in a collection for many years?   I would think that a sword like this is on collectors' radar

[paulb]

Hi Matt

Congratulations. For many years I lusted after a 3rd generation Tadayohi blade. To many his work is the peak of Hizen quality eclipsing both his prolific father (for whom he made many daimei) and his more famous grandfather, the shodai. Personally I wouldnt like to choose between 1st and 3rd they are both exceptional.

I am very envious not only of the sword but the fact that you have achieved a long planned goal that doesnt happen too often in this field.

[mywei]

Hi all, 

 

Thanks for all your kind comments!

Brian: Have shot an email to Roger, awaiting a reply.

 

Have attached a few extra shots of the jigane, boshi and hamon. (again sorry for the quality)

As I mentioned before, the blade does have an area of rough jigane on the omote, but doesn't detract from its overall beauty I think.

 

For those interested in the koshirae: Samesaya. Fittings have a matching FK+kojiri with shishi theme+menuki. Tsuba is saotome school

 

 

 

 

 

[Brian]

Bit of rough hada on a Hizento is nothing to worry about. Think Roger will love it. Congrats, it's a beaut.

[Darcy]

Nice koshirae too. Without the rough hada it would be something to submit to Juyo with some confidence.

 

As is 3rd gen always costs a lot. So if you're happy sounds like you did pretty well then.

[cisco-san]

Hi,

 

congratulation - a beautiful blade!!!

Just a short (newbie) question - in which photo I can see the rough hada? --> Maybe the beauty of this blade is dazzling me 

 

thx

Klaus

[Jim P]

Hi Klaus, First post pic 5  Great blade Matt

[cisco-san]

Many thx!!!