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Antique Japanese Koto Sword, Signed & Dated, with Koshirae

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:2,500.00 USD
Antique Japanese  Koto Sword, Signed & Dated, with Koshirae
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Antique Japanese Koto Sword, Signed & Dated, with Koshirae. Beautiful shinogi-zukuri katana with bohi groove, Bizen itame/mokume hada, nie deki gunome choji hamon, midare utsuri, chu-kissaki with ko-maru boshi and short turn back. Ubu nakago with one mekugi-ana, signed "Bizen Koku ju Osafune Sukesada saku", and dated August of Eisho 2(1505). Habaki is a two-piece gold foil over copper, with sukashi "night and day" comma family mons. The blade length is 66cm or 26 inches. There were many smiths that signed Sukesada, but this is of an early period, and not one of the mass produced swords. This smith ranks highly, with a JoJo saku rating. It comes with a NBTHK paper dated Heisei 27 (2015) verifying the signature is genuine. It also has a information fact sheet from a Japanese sword dealer dated 2016, and a full-length oshigata rubbing of the blade wrapped in a scroll. Condition is excellent, the sword in a nice state of polish showing a clear hada grain and hamon. There are minor folding lines in the grain in a couple of areas. The nakago has a nice dark black patina, showing some old pitting, but with a clear signature and date. The koshirae consists of a black lacquered saya with alternating bands, and copper-colored bands appearing within the lacquer. The kojiri is smooth gold over copper. The koiguchi is black horn. There is a purple and white woven silk sageo cord with woven images of water dragons, that is tied around the saya. There are pockets for kozuka and kogai. The kozuka is shakudo and gold with a shakudo nanako plate featuring a black dragon climbing a ken and vajra. It is signed on the back "Goto Denjo". The ko-gatana looks modern, possibly silver. The kogai is a matching piece of shakudo and gold with a shakudo nanako plate and black dragon climbing a ken and vajra. It is also signed "Goto Denjo". They both show wear and age, with light scratches and minor dings. The Tsuba is a mokko-shaped shakudo nanako piece with gold dragons and clouds around the rim area. It measures 54mm wide x 59mm tall. It is signed "Goto Mitsuharu" w/kakihan. There are kozuka and kogai hitsuanas on either side of the nakago ana, showing wear to the patina on the shakudo body. There is no documentation as to the signatures on the fittings. The seppas are gold foil over copper and show some wear. The tsuka is wrapped with thin black string, and has small gold flower menuki. It has gold eyelets for the mekugi. The fuchi and kashira are gold over copper with a nanako surface and feature a male dragon on the fuchi and female dragon on the kashira. They are not signed. A very attractive sword and mounts that would display very well. Est.: $5,000-$8,000.