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This sword came from a Daimyo collection and signed Kiyomaro to be presented to some important person as it was registered in Showa 26 (1951) sword no. 873. Showa 26 is also known as Daimyo registration Year.
A sword bearing a license, the torokusho dated this year belonged to some important Collection. The earlier the registration number is, the more important the owner was.
However, many Daimyo collection swords failed modern shinsa and most of these swords are of superior quality and much sought after by collectors.
This Katana is mounted in shirasaya. Signed: "Minamoto Kiyomaro" and dated 1850. Very early registration with no. 873, dated 1951.
In feudal Japan, When it is time to gift a sword to someone like the Daimyo, a famous sword is most ideal but there were few and very expensive so it became the custom of adding a big name smith to a cheaper good sword to enhance its value.
As it is commonly known that 90% of big name swords are gimei for various reasons but the quality is mostly good and some came with beautiful koshirae.
In the Shinshinto period, Kiyomaro was very famous and his works copied Shizu of Shoshu den.
Kiyomaro was also one of the most copied smith. Even famous smiths like Gassan Sadakazu made copies of Kiyomaro to survive after sword carrying was banned by Emperor Meiji and the lives of all swordsmiths were hard.
Many swords from the Daimyo Collections failed modern shinsa. However, if the mei is removed and resubmitted again, it would be attributed to some smith and issued a Hozon Certificate. In a case mentioned in a book, a gimei Kotetsu was later attributed to Kiyomaro.
Nagasa: 71.2 cm. Sori: 2.1 cm.
Moto-haba: 3.3 cm. Saki-haba: 2.3 cm.
Moto-gasane: 0.8 cm. Saki-gasane: 0.6 cm.
Price : NOT FOR SALE