鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi)

blade, late 14th–early 15th century; mounting, 19th century

Not on view

This is the short sword (wakizashi) of a pair of swords (daishō) once in the collection of the Tokugawa shogun's family. It features a scabbard with polished and lacquered, exquisitely fine-textured ray skin, and hilts that are wrapped with delicately braided cords. The gold hilt ornaments (menuki) and knife handle (kozuka), mounted to the reverse of the scabbard, are works by the fifth-generation Gotō artist, Tokujō (後藤徳乗, 1550–1631). Tokujō's descendant, the fifteenth Gotō generation Mitsuyoshi (後藤光美, 1788–1834), made the sword guard. Its terraced concave shape is rare, and displays the finest form of nanako, a surface finish with small dots.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: 鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blade and Mounting for a Short Sword (Wakizashi)
Swordsmith: Blade inscribed by Nobukuni (Japanese, active late 14th–early 15th century)
Fittings maker: Knife handle (kozuka) and grip ornaments (menuki) attributed to Gotō Tokujō (Japanese, 1550–1631, fifth-generation Gotō master)
Fittings maker: Sword guard (tsuba) inscribed by Gotō Mitsuyoshi (Shinjō) (Japanese, 1780–1843, fifteenth-generation Gotō master)
Fittings maker: Sword-hilt washer and pommel (fuchigashira) by Yokoya Munekuni (Japanese, active 19th century)
Date: blade, late 14th–early 15th century; mounting, 19th century
Culture: Japanese
Medium: Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (samé), thread, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold
Dimensions: L. 26 11/16 in. (67.8 cm); L. of blade 19 in. (48.2 cm); L. of cutting edge 13 15/16 in. (35.4 cm); D. of curvature 3/16 in. (0.45 cm); L. scabbard 20 1/2 (52.1 cm); L. of knife (kozuka) L. 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm)
Classification: Swords
Credit Line: The Howard Mansfield Collection, Gift of Howard Mansfield, 1936
Object Number: 36.120.413a–c
Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

More Artwork

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鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (<i>Daishō</i>), Muramasa Japanese, Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese — 鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (*Daishō*)
Multiple artists/makers
sword (<i>katana</i>) blade, 16th century; short sword (<i>wakizashi</i>) blade, late 14th–early 15th century; mountings, 19th century

鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blade and Mounting for a Long Sword (<i>Katana</i>), Muramasa Japanese, Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese — 鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blade and Mounting for a Long Sword (*Katana*)
Multiple artists/makers
blade, 16th century; mounting, 19th century

Blade for a Double-Edged Sword (<i>Ken</i>), Steel, Japanese — Blade for a Double-Edged Sword (*Ken*)
Japanese
5th century

Sword Guard (Tsuba), Omori Hidenaga Japanese, Copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, copper, silver, Japanese — Sword Guard (Tsuba)
Omori Hidenaga
18th century

Sword Guard (Tsuba), Iron, copper, Japanese — Sword Guard (Tsuba)
Japanese
late 14th century

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