Katana Nio Kiyoharu Dated 2nd Year of Tenshō (1574) Koto NBTHK hozon 71.5cm nagasa

[Lexvdjagt]

Dear NMB,

 

I am offering this Nio Kiyoharu katana for sale with NBTHK papers.

 

Katana Nio Kiyoharu, Dated August, 2nd Year of Tenshō (1574)
Blade Length: 71.5 cm (approx. 2 shaku 3 sun 6 bu minus)
Curvature (Sori): 1.8 cm
Width at Base (Moto-haba): 3.20 cm
Width at Tip (Saki-haba): 1.90 cm
Thickness at Base (Moto-kasane): 0.75 cm
Thickness at Tip (Saki-kasane): 0.48 cm
Mekugi-ana (peg holes): 1
 

Description:
Shinogi-zukuri, with a high shinogi and low iori-mune. It has a medium-length kissaki.
The kitae is nicely formed ko-itame mixed with itame and some masame hada, with strong flowing patterns in places and a clearly visible jigane.
The hamon (temper line) is suguha-chō, with small nie and some nice hataraki.
The boshi has a slight notare style and is covered with nie.
The nakago is ubu.
It comes with a large copper habaki plated with gold.
Has a shirasaya and a sword bag.

 

 

 

 

 

SOLD

• Free shipping inside EU

• Shipping outside EU available for a small additional cost (€20–40)

• Shipped with UPS Express (or different courier), fully insured to full value

• Located in the Netherlands – pickup possible

Any questions are always welcome! There will be a donation made to NMB if the blade is sold through NMB.

 

 

[2devnul]

Hi, 

 

Looks nice, price is a bargain, but....

 

Test cut?

[Marius]

A great opportunity for those who can accept the simple fact that old swords sometimes just have coarse grain, because they were made as weapons.

 

Consider:

 

Kotō (Muromachi)

Ubu, signed and dated

Long

Healthy (look at the wide motohaba and thick kasane!)

Reputable school

NBTHK paper

Also, the pictures aren’t that good (sorry Lex) and I am certain there is loads to be enjoyed in this sword.

 

All in all, at this price it’s a bargain. Someone take advantage!

 

 

[Lexvdjagt]

2 hours ago, 2devnul said:

Hi, 

 

Looks nice, price is a bargain, but....

 

Test cut?

Hello Adam,

 

These areas are some scratches that are visible on the blade when photographing it in my current method. I do not observe them in hand. The blade has not been polished for a while, so some scratches like these are normal.

 

and thank you @Marius for the feedback! I am currently still figuring the photographing part out. The PDF that is available on the forum was very helpful, but I will simply need to put some more time into making a dedicated setup. I would ideally like to be able to make photographs of Japanese dealer level. Thank you for your input! 
 

greetings,

Lex

[2devnul]

Gentlemen, I completely understand and I'm not saying these scratches should impact blade quality or price. It really looks like a very nice deal. I would buy it personally if I could just afford it. 

 

What is interesting for me is the fact that scratches look like typical Temeshigiri 'flaw'. I was just wondering who and why (can't understand why people would use antique blades for that) used it for cutting. 

[Lexvdjagt]

1 minute ago, 2devnul said:

Gentlemen, I completely understand and I'm not saying these scratches should impact blade quality or price. It really looks like a very nice deal. I would buy it personally if I could just afford it. 

 

What is interesting for me is the fact that scratches look like typical Temeshigiri 'flaw'. I was just wondering who and why (can't understand why people would use antique blades for that) used it for cutting. 

 

I have had a Chiyozuru katana in the past that had some minor scratches in the same way as well but more prominent (I

am certain it was used for cutting something, likely by a westerner). Also some slight damage on the Hamon and cutting edge which doesn’t seem to be the case with this sword. It could have been used or iaido in Japan which is more common than you’d think. A lot of sellers still sell blades from the Muromachi period as Iaido blades. 

[Rawa]

Pappered long ubu koto blade. What not to like here?  I wrote that is long? One mekugi-ana. Dated, no signs of retempering and packed boshi. Oh and yeah he have tendency to give photos with over-sharpened details. But its better for buyer. Good deal for eu denizens. Photo of random part chiyozuru.

[Kantaro]

 I like it but I wonder if it is a good deal why is it not sold yet....I have no Nihonto Katana yet and ask myself if this could be a first good one or not?

[vajo]

Lex could you tell me more about the swordsmith? I didn't find him. Is the name Kiyoharu correct?

[Lexvdjagt]

16 minutes ago, vajo said:

Lex could you tell me more about the swordsmith? I didn't find him. Is the name Kiyoharu correct?

The Kanji on the paper is 防州住二王清春 for the smith, which I could not find in my usual references. There is a smith who signed Kiyonaga who is from the same prefecture: https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/KIY299. But there were many smiths who signed Nio in the late Muromachi period, as this blade does have NBTHK hozon, then the signature is verified. I think it is simply a case of a period with many different signatures and smiths, just like this Taira katana I have sold:

Similarly, this smith couldn't be found either in standard reference books for the period.

 

 

1 hour ago, Kantaro said:

 I like it but I wonder if it is a good deal why is it not sold yet....I have no Nihonto Katana yet and ask myself if this could be a first good one or not?

The blade is signed and has NBTHK hozon papers, and is dated. Healthy and ubu. I would recommend it, of course. I don't think its odd that it has not sold yet, taking into account that it is quite a large purchase and that it has only been listed for a few days.

 

Greetings,
Lex

 

[vajo]

[vajo]

Quote

 

防州住二王清永
 

This reads for me boshu ju nio kiyonaga 

[Rawa]

Men its barely weekend. I give it a week max especially now with new law in eu.

[Rawa]

@Kantarolets have gentleman agreement - I will buy it back if you won't like it!  oh and I think that jihada is much darker. Lex always doing this bright exposure. Also it is good opportunity as you wont wait long for delivery. And no additional fees.

[Lexvdjagt]

1 minute ago, vajo said:

防州住二王清永
 

This reads for me boshu ju nio kiyonaga 

Yes, it is not the same Smith, I was trying to point out there are other Nio Smiths that signed Boshi Ju Nio kiyo.... I am certainly not trying to connect the two Smiths to each other. 

 

Greetings,
Lex

[oli]

From Markus Sesko Book:

KIYOHARU (清春), Gentoku (元徳, 1329-1331), Suō –

“Kiyoharu” (清春), “Bōshū-jū Niō Kiyoharu saku”

(防州住二王清春作), Niō school, according to tradition the son of Kiyonaga (清長)

 

KIYOHARU (清春), Hōtoku (宝徳, 1449-1452), Suō `

“Kiyoharu” (清春), “Niō Kiyoharu” (二王清春), Niō-school,

according to tradition the son of Kiyozane (清真)

 

KIYOHARU (清春), Ōnin (応仁, 1467-1469), Suō –

“Kiyoharu” (清春), “Bōshū-jū Kiyoharu” (防州住清春), Kaifu

group (海部), according to tradition this is the early signature of the Kaifu-smith Fusayoshi (房吉

[Marius]

12 hours ago, Kantaro said:

 I like it but I wonder if it is a good deal why is it not sold yet....I have no Nihonto Katana yet and ask myself if this could be a first good one or not?

It’s a very good deal. The sword has several strong points:

 

1. It hasn’t been shortened (many katana have)

2. It is healthy (many katana are polished down)

3. It is both signed and dated (many swords are not)

4. It has NBTHK papers that attest to the signature 

5. The price is attractive relative to its value 

 

For a first sword? I strongly doubt you could do better. 
 

Why hasn’t it sold (after only a few days, by the way)?

 

Because it’s holiday season. 
Because this is not a market with millions of buyers.

Because those who recognise this as a good deal might have no budget for swords at the moment.

Because people have other expenses at the moment.

And so on…..

 

 

 

 

[Lexvdjagt]

SOLD

[Rawa]

@Lexvdjagt @Kantaro bought it or I dnt have to hold money just in case?  nice catch!

[Lexvdjagt]

@Rawa it was unfortunately sold to someone else before he could buy it.