Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
This antique katana is attributed to Gimeisai Hirofusa, a skilled smith of the Mishina school active during the late Edo period (Kaei era, 1848-1855) in Seishu province. The blade features beautiful horimono of Suken and Tama oi Ryu, and comes with an NTHK Kanteisho certificate. It is presented with a complete koshirae featuring wave-themed fuchi-kashira and horse equipment motifs on the tsuba.
NihontoWatchmumei · Mishina · Kaei (1848-1854) · nagasa 69.7cm · sori 0.9cm
Ise · around 1848-1867
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The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
The NTHK’s principal certificate, issued for a blade of considerable quality. It confirms a genuine signature, or, for an unsigned (mumei) work, records the judges’ attribution to a smith or school. The paper carries a detailed worksheet with a numerical point score.
The NTHK (Nihon Tōken Hozon Kai, the Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Sword) is the oldest of Japan’s sword-appraisal bodies, founded in 1910, decades before the NBTHK. After the death of its long-serving head it divided into two successor societies, the NTHK and the NTHK-NPO, both of which continue to hold shinsa. NTHK certificates are known for a detailed worksheet that records a numerical point score alongside the judges’ written opinion, and the society is especially respected for its attribution of unsigned (mumei) work.
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