Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (Daishō)

Inscription: Inscribed on the tang of the sword (katana) blade: Ei-kio ju-ni-nen hachi gwatsu Sukemitsu, Osafune (8th month of the 12th year of the period Ei-kio [which is August, 1440]); on the sword guard (tsuba) and hilt collard (fuchi) for the sword (katana): Iwamoto Konkan [with kakihan]; on the sword guard (tsuba) and hilt collar (fuchi) for the short sword (wakizashi): Iwamoto Konkwan [with kakihan]; on the reverse of the knife handle (kozuka) for the short sword (wakizashi): Iwata Takanori no motome in ozu Mu Tamagawa no zu Iwamoto Konkwan kore wo chokosu (Made at the request of Takanori; design of Six Tama Rivers; Iwamoto Konkwan designed and chiseled this); on the blade of the knife (kozuka) for the short sword (wakizashi): Kuniyoshi.

Howard Mansfield, New York City (until 1936; his gift to MMA).

Grancsay, Stephen V., and Alan Priest. "Japanese Metalwork, Nō Masks, and Textiles in the Howard Mansfield Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 32, no. 10 (October 1937). p. 229, fig. 1.

Grancsay, Stephen V. "The Japanese Armor Gallery in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Connoisseur 148 (September 1961). p. 17, ill.

Boger, Batterson H. The Traditional Arts of Japan: A Complete Illustrated Guide. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1964. p. 118, ill.

Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 49, no. 1 (Summer, 1991). pp. 62–64, ill.