Mounting for a Slung Sword (Itomaki-tachi Koshirae) with Storage Box

ca. 1615–1868; storage box, ca. 1932

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 377

This object is a rare example of a type of luxurious mountings for slung swords (itomaki-tachi), which was restricted to the family of the Shōgun and its closest retainers. Not meant for being worn per se, such mountings were usually commissioned for important ancestral blades that were exchanged as gifts. With its solid gold fittings and embossed gold foiled scabbard, all decorated with the hollyhock crest of the Tokugawa family, the mounting falls within the most opulent category of its type, which was not seen outside of the said circles because of sumptuary laws in effect since the late seventeenth century.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Title: Mounting for a Slung Sword (Itomaki-tachi Koshirae) with Storage Box
Date: ca. 1615–1868; storage box, ca. 1932
Culture: Japanese
Medium: Gold, wood, lacquer, leather, textile
Dimensions: L. 39 1/2 in. (100.3 cm)
Classification: Sword Furniture
Credit Line: Gift of Rosemarie and Leighton R. Longhi, in honor of John Carpenter, 2023
Object Number: 2023.735.6a–e
Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

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