MOUNTINGS:
MOUNTED KATANA BY KIYOTSUNA
This is a very nice katana by the Muromachi Era smith, Kiyotsuna. This looks to be by one of the Kiyotsuna smiths who worked in Suwo around the beginning of the 16th century (1504). It is signed with the two character signature, Kiyotsuna. There is no date. This is a long and graceful katana with a shallow sori and a smallish kissaki. The cutting edge of this sword is 28 inches or 71.2 cm. The hada is a combination of itame and mokume and it is very pronounced and beautiful. There is ji-nie. The hamon is suguha with uchinoke in the ha and many ashi and yo. The nakago is ubu (not shortened) with one mekugi-ana. The polish is old but still in good condition. There are a couple of areas of very minor lamination openings, but nothing to worry about with a blade of this age. There are no flaws or problems with this blade.
The mounts are very nice and date to the late Edo period. The tsuba is mokko shaped and done in brass. The fuchi and kashira are matching with butterflies done on a copper background. The menuki are iron with a person on a wood raft and a landscape design. The saya is a rust colored lacquer and probably fairly recent.
This sword comes with an old NBTHK Tokubetsu Kitcho Token certificate dated 1964 authenticating the signature and period of this blade. A great piece of history at a reasonable price.
PRICE: $ 7,500.00
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