Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi)

Blade attributed to Fusamune of Soshu Japanese
 Sword guard (Tsuba) inscribed by Sōheishi Sōtensai Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 378

Fusamune is well-known among the many swordsmiths who worked in Sagami Province (Sōshū) during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Typical of the style of the late Sōshū school, this blade has tempering effects (hitatsura) visible throughout the surface of the blade, as well as engraving. The luxurious late eighteenth-century mounting is of top quality.

Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi), Blade attributed to Fusamune of Soshu (Japanese, active ca. late 15th–early 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (samé), silk, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, silver, Japanese

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Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi), Blade attributed to Fusamune of Soshu (Japanese, active ca. late 15th–early 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (samé), silk, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, silver, Japanese
Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi), Blade attributed to Fusamune of Soshu (Japanese, active ca. late 15th–early 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (samé), silk, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, silver, Japanese
Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi), Blade attributed to Fusamune of Soshu (Japanese, active ca. late 15th–early 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (samé), silk, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, silver, Japanese
Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi), Blade attributed to Fusamune of Soshu (Japanese, active ca. late 15th–early 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (samé), silk, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, silver, Japanese
Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi), Blade attributed to Fusamune of Soshu (Japanese, active ca. late 15th–early 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (samé), silk, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, silver, Japanese

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