This antique Japanese tanto, signed by Aoki Motonaga in 1811, features a rare moroha-zukuri style with cutting edges on both sides. Motonaga, originally from Owari province, trained under several renowned masters including the 6th-gen Nobutaka, Ozaki Suketaka, and Oku Motohira. The blade comes with a full koshirae, including a Fuchi-Kashira with Kikyou Karakusa, a gourd-themed menuki, and a Tsuba with Gosan-no-Kiri motifs, and is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Certificate.
NihontoWatchmei · Kyowa (1801-1804) · nagasa 26.2cm
Settsu · around 1801-1804
Fujishiro Chu-jo saku · Tōken Taikan top 76%
1 piece on the market now
The Edo period (1615 to 1868)
Under the Tokugawa peace the daishō became a regulated uniform, and demand gathered in the castle towns, above all Edo itself. The craft split two ways: brilliant display work for connoisseurs, and tested blades whose cutting results were sometimes inlaid in gold.
A Hozon-certified blade judged to show notably superior workmanship and a better state of preservation. The bar is higher: re-tempered blades and most unsigned Muromachi/Edo works are excluded.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
NBTHK official siteReturns/exchanges limited to defects caused by shipping (except willful misconduct or gross negligence by the company); customers must contact within 72 hours of receiving the product.
¥980,000
