SIGNED SEKISHU IZUWA NO JU NAOTSUNA SAKU, NANBOKUCHO PERIOD (LATE 14TH CENTURY)

Details

A SOSHU TACHI
REGISTERED AS A JUYO BIJUTSUHIN [IMPORTANT ART OBJECT]
Signed Sekishu Izuwa no ju Naotsuna saku, Nanbokucho Period (Late 14th Century)
Sugata [configuration]: shinogi-zukuri [longitudinal ridge], chu-kissaki nobiru [slightly elongated medium point], mitsumune [tri-bevelled back]

Kitae [forging pattern]: a combination of itame [wood grain] and mokume [burl grain] with jinie [hard metal granules over the surface of the blade]

Hamon [tempering pattern]: a combination of gunome [small pointed curves] and choji [clove] patterns with unobtrusive nie [hard metal granules]

Boshi [tip]: notarekomi [undulating temper line continued into the tip], komaru nijugokoro [gently turned-back temper line, almost double in places]

Horimono [carvings]: a single bohi [groove] on each side

Nakago [tang]: ubu [unaltered] with katte sagari yasurime [diagonal file marks sloping towards the back of the tang], two mekugi-ana [holes for retaining pegs], kurijiri [rounded heel], signed with a narrow chisel Sekishu Izuwa no ju Naotsuna saku

Fitted with a two-tier gold and gilt habaki [collar]

Black-lacquered katana koshirae [set of mounts] comprising: black-lacquered saya [scabbard]; tsuka [hilt] covered in white sharkskin and wrapped in black silk forming a lozenge pattern; two shakudo nanako [copper-gold alloy worked with a granulated ground] menuki [hilt decorations] worked in relief iroe [soft-metal decoration] in the form of scrolls; black-lacquered horn kashira [fitting at the end of the hilt], koikuchi [scabbard mouth], kurikata [cord fitting] and kojiri [scabbard butt]; shakudo nanako fuchi [hilt collar] engraved with bamboo-grass, signed Fujiki Hisatsune; rounded square iron tsuba [hand guard] in Owari style pierced with omodaka [water plantain] motifs, probably late 17th century, diameter 3in. (7.7cm.); shakudo nanako kozuka [knife] worked in relief iroe with waterwheels on the Yodo river, with black silk hilt binding, Edo period (17th/19th century)
Overall length of blade: 33¾in. (85.7cm.)
Nagasa [length from tip to beginning of tang]: 27 11/16in. (70.3cm.)
Sori [curvature]: 9/16in. (1.4cm.)
Motohaba [width at start of tempered edge]: 1 5/16in. (3.3cm.)
Sakihaba [width before tip]: 15/16in. (2.4cm.) (2)

Provenance

At the time of its registration (see below) in the possession of Count Takatsukasa Shinsuke, member of the Kizokuin [House of Peers], Chief Priest of the Meiji Shrine and pioneer of Japanese ornithology

Literature

Honma Junji and Hiroi Yuichi, Nihonto juyo bijutsuhin zenshu [A complete collection of Japanese swords registered as Important Art Objects], vol. 3, (Tokyo, Seishosha, 1985), cat. no. 313
Manno Art Museum, Manno korekushon senshu [Selected Masterpieces of the Manno Collection] (Osaka, Manno Kinen Bunka Zaidan, 1988), cat. no. 184
Kigen nisenroppyakunen hoshuku meiho Nihonto tenrankai shutchinto zufu [Illustrated catalogue of the exhibition of fine Japanese swords held in celebration of the 2600th anniversary of the foundation of Japan] (Tokyo, 1940)
Honma Kunzan and Sato Kanzan, Shinban Nihonto Koza vol. 3, (Tokyo, Yuzankaku, 1967), p. 48

Exhibited

With original certificate of registration as a Juyo bijutsuhin [Important Art Object] on 10 May 1935

Special notice

Prospective buyers of this lot should be aware that as an 'Important Art Object' this Lot cannot, as matters presently stand, leave Japan. Successful buyers are themselves responsible for registering their acquisition of the lot with the Cultural Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Japanese Government within 14 days of the date of the sale. This lot is subject to Japanese consumption tax at 5% on the hammer price and is zero rated for United Kingdom VAT.

Further details

Prospective buyers of this Lot should be aware that as an 'Important Art Object' this Lot cannot, as matters presently stand, leave Japan. Successful buyers are themselves responsible for registering their acquisition of the Lot with the the Cultural Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Japanese Government within 14 days of the date of the sale. This Lot is subject to Japanese consumption tax at 5 on the hammer price and is zero rated for United Kingdom VAT

Lot Essay

During the Edo period (1615-1868), Naotsuna of Sagami province was named one of the Jutetsu [Ten Great Disciples] of Masamune, perhaps the greatest of all Japanese swordsmiths. His earliest dated work, however, belongs to the Eiwa period (1375-9) making it unlikely that there was actually a direct master master-pupil relationship between the two smiths. Nevertheless, Naotsuna's thorough training in the Soshu-den tradition of blade manufacture is evident in many aspects of his style, including the forging pattern with its rich mixture of jinie and chikei, and the hamon [tempering pattern] combining the gently undulating notare with the more sharply articulated gunome rich in sunagashi and kinsuji. Very few signed works by Naotsuna have survived to the present day since many of his blades were considerably shortened by later owners and this signature is particularly important for the valuable geographical information that it includes.

More from IMPORTANT JAPANESE AND CHINESE ART FROM THE MANNO ART MUSEUM

View All