Signed Japanese Sword with Shin Gunto Fittings, NTHK Certified as 17th Century Production
Measuring 36 inches overall, with a 24 3/4 inch blade, showing a jagged hamon and fine grain, with a silver plated habaki and shin gunto regulation pattern furniture and saya. Most of the spacers and the fuchi are numbered "69", with the tsuba and other spacers unnumbered. The tang has two mekugi-ana, a 7-symbol signature and a chrysanthemum with 16 petals on the left side. An included set of paperwork (certificate and copy of worksheet) from a NTHK Shinsa event in Chicago in 2004 rates the sword at 60 points (Shinteisho), attributing the blade to the manji-era (c. 1658) and the work to the smith Fujiwara in the Yamashiro region.
Fine. The otherwise fine blade shows some nicking of the edge and the tip chipped off, with mild spotting and a strong hamon, mild scuffing on the habaki, and minor stains and wear on the furniture.
