S125. A mumei tachi papered to Tegai Kanekiyo.

Nagasa: 26 13/16″ 68 cm.

Sori: 1.2 cm.

Moto Haba: 3 cm.

Moto Kasane: .7 cm.

Saki Haba: 1.6 cm.

Saki Kasane: .4 cm.

Nakago Nagasa: 6 7/8″ 17.3 cm.

Overall length in shirasaya: 39″ 99 cm.

Ko itame hada tending towards masame in the shinogi-ji. The hamon is a bright nioi-guchi covered in very fine ko-nie and worked in narrow suguba with shallow undulations, subtle hataraki, and a bit of koi-guchi gaiba. There is a faint shadow of nijuba, especialy in the mono-uchi. The ikubi kissaki has a sugu boshi with a medium long kaeri; the boshi is swept (hakekake). There is a sword cut in the kissaki, right at the tip on the omote (love to know the story behind that); this is not considered a defect, rather it is part of the sword’s history. There are 2 areas of coarser grain (see my last 2 pictures): one under the habaki and the other about 8″ further up. The habaki is a well made double gold foil. The polish is mostly intact, with only a few light scratches here and there. The sword is mounted in shirasaya which has a few insignificant dings and is otherwise just fine, and comes with a bag.

This comes with a Tokubetsu Hozon paper from the NBTHK in Tokyo, dated 2007 and giving the sword to Tegai Kanekiyo. There were a few generations of Kanekiyo working between early Nambokucho and Muromachi. The first of these is thought to have been the son of the founder of Yamato Tegai, Kanenaga. The paper doesn’t specify a generation but the sugata of this sword suggests early rather than late. A very fine piece at a very reasonable price. 2 pounds, 9 ounces. Now $4,995.