相模守九世孫政常
Sagami no Kami Kyuseson Masatsune
Owari Tanto
SCHOOL Owari
PERIOD Shin-shinto, Circa Koka(1844-1848)
MEI "Sagami no Kami Kyuseson Masatsune" 
FORM Tanto
NAGASA 28 cm
SUGATA  Hira-zukuri
SORI Slight uchi-sori
MUNE Iori-mune
KASANE 7 mm
MOTOHABA 2.8 cm
NAKAGO CONDITION Ubu
NAKAGO SHAPE Standard with kuri-jiri 
MEKUGIANA One
YASURIME  Kesho


Hamon :  Nie-deki suguha. The nioi-guchi is tight and full of fine-line hataraki. Kinsugi and inazuma are abundant and there are ko-ashi. Nijuba is present in several areas and there is uchinoke.

Boshi :  Ko-maru with a long midare-kaeri.

Kitae :  Itame and o-itame with masame mixed in. The hada is flowing and "nagareru". There is ji-nie and chikei. Also, ji-nie appears in clusters along the mune.

About this sword :   This is a tanto by the ninth generation Owari Masatsune. He was active around Koka (1844-1848). This line of smiths originated with the shodai Sagami no Kami Masatsune who was famously known as one of the "Owari San Saku". The other two of this triad were Hida no Kami Ujifusa and Hoki no kami Nobutaka. As for works of the Masatusne line, those after the fifth generation are almost unseen. This was due to the peaceful times of mid-late Edo that reduced the demand for newly made swords. This tanto can be absolutely identified as the work of the ninth generation because of the use of "kyuseson" in the mei. Kyuseson means "9th generation descendant".

This work has a clear koto flavor - lots of delicate hataraki and clear uchinoke. There are two small ware in the ji. These are not a problem for the blade but we like to point them out (shown in the photos) so buyers can judge for themselves. The polish is high quality but it is also an old polish. Hence, there are some scratches here and there as shown in the photos.

This tanto comes with a shira-saya and an old copper habaki. The shira-saya has ivory inlay around the mekugi-ana. There is no storage bag. This has a Kanteisho Paper from the NTHK issued under Kentaro Yoshikawa in 1991. There are five judges seals on the paper and Yoshikawa's is the bottom one. A well made tanto that offers much to enjoy and an empirically important example of a rare work by the ninth generation Masatsune.

Price: $6500


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