Lot Essay
Like the preceding blade, this example of Ichimonji workmanship displays the exuberance typical of the school. The hamon here is not only more vigorous, but also it is wider than the naginata-naoshi, suggesting a probable date in the second half of the 13th century.
This koshirae, although mounted in its present form in the late Edo period, shows a style of mounting of the Genroku era (1688-1704). This tsuba has a mate in the Moslé Collection catalogue, see Moslé (1932), plate XVIII for illustration and vol. 1, page 96, no. 154, for the text. In fact one could say that they were made by the same hand. They might have been a daisho in the style of that period. The Moslé example is attributed to Goto Tokujo (1550-1631), the fifth main line master, but this seems far too early and not in keeping with such a display of gold. If one is to attribute this tsuba to a mainline master, then Goto Renjo (1627-1708) of Tsujo (1662-1721) would be much better choices if one attributes this tsuba to the Goto School. What makes this speculation even more interesting is the fact that the fuchi is signed Masayuki with kao.
There are at least fifteen artists recorded with these kanji, but none is the artist of this piece. It is probably an early Mito school work in Goto style since the koshirae and sword were in the possession of the Aoyama daimyo, a branch of whom was resident in Mito as a family of Confucian scholars. This Mito connection points to the possible authorship of Mito Enko (1805-1870), who was director of the Kodokan. The Masayuki fittings were made to go with the earlier tsuba. He was probably a tachikanagushi who made this full mounting on commission from the Aoyama family.
This koshirae, although mounted in its present form in the late Edo period, shows a style of mounting of the Genroku era (1688-1704). This tsuba has a mate in the Moslé Collection catalogue, see Moslé (1932), plate XVIII for illustration and vol. 1, page 96, no. 154, for the text. In fact one could say that they were made by the same hand. They might have been a daisho in the style of that period. The Moslé example is attributed to Goto Tokujo (1550-1631), the fifth main line master, but this seems far too early and not in keeping with such a display of gold. If one is to attribute this tsuba to a mainline master, then Goto Renjo (1627-1708) of Tsujo (1662-1721) would be much better choices if one attributes this tsuba to the Goto School. What makes this speculation even more interesting is the fact that the fuchi is signed Masayuki with kao.
There are at least fifteen artists recorded with these kanji, but none is the artist of this piece. It is probably an early Mito school work in Goto style since the koshirae and sword were in the possession of the Aoyama daimyo, a branch of whom was resident in Mito as a family of Confucian scholars. This Mito connection points to the possible authorship of Mito Enko (1805-1870), who was director of the Kodokan. The Masayuki fittings were made to go with the earlier tsuba. He was probably a tachikanagushi who made this full mounting on commission from the Aoyama family.