鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (Daishō)
This pair of swords (daishō) was once in the collection of the Tokugawa shogun's family. It features scabbards with polished and lacquered, exquisitely fine-textured ray skin, and hilts wrapped with delicately braided cords. The gold hilt ornaments (menuki) and knife handles (kozuka), mounted to the reverse of the scabbards, 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 guards.Their terraced concave shape is rare, and they display the finest form of nanako, a surface finish with small dots.
Artwork Details
- Title: 鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (Daishō)
- Swordsmith: Sword (katana) blade inscribed by Muramasa (Japanese, active 16th century)
- Swordsmith: Short sword (wakizashi) 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) by Gotō Mitsuyoshi
- 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: sword (katana) blade, 16th century; short sword (wakizashi) blade, late 14th–early 15th century; mountings, 19th century
- Culture: Japanese
- Medium: Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (same), thread, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold
- Dimensions: L. of sword (katana) 34 1/4 in. (87 cm); L. of sword (katana) blade 25 5/32 in. (63.9 cm); D. of sword (katana) blade curvature 19/32 (1.5 cm); L. of sword (katana) scabbard 28 in. (71.1 cm); L. of short sword (wakizashi) 26 11/16 in. (67.8 cm); L. of short sword (wakizashi) blade 13 15/16 in. (35.4 cm); D. of short sword (wakizashi) blade curvature 3/16 in. (0.45 cm); L. of short sword (wakizashi) scabbard 20 1/2 (52.1 cm); L. of knife (kozuka) for short sword (wakizashi) mounting L. 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm)
- Classification: Swords
- Credit Line: The Howard Mansfield Collection, Gift of Howard Mansfield, 1936
- Object Number: 36.120.412a, b, .413a–c
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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Multiple artists/makers
blade, 16th century; mounting, 19th century
Multiple artists/makers
blade, late 14th–early 15th century; mounting, 19th century
Japanese
5th century
Japanese
late 14th century
Omori Hidenaga
18th century
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