Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
This tanto by Minamoto no Masakage, dated Ansei 6 (1859), features a robust, wide-bodied construction with a slightly extended fukura. The jitetsu shows fine ko-itame with masame mixed in, rich in ji-nie and chikei. The hamon is a varied gunome-midare with a pointed ko-maru boshi, reflecting the influence of his teachers Minamoto no Masao and Suishinshi Masatsugu.
NihontoWatchmei · Bunkyu (1861-1864) · nagasa 30cm
Echigo · around 1861-1864
Tōken Taikan top 97%
4 pieces on the market now
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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 siteIf, due to our fault, the item differs significantly from its proper condition, the item may be returned. Cooling-off is within one week of the item's arrival.
This tanto by Minamoto no Masakage, dated Ansei 6 (1859), features a robust, wide-bodied construction with a slightly extended fukura. The jitetsu shows fine ko-itame with masame mixed in, rich in ji-nie and chikei. The hamon is a varied gunome-midare with a pointed ko-maru boshi, reflecting the influence of his teachers Minamoto no Masao and Suishinshi Masatsugu.
NihontoWatchmei · Bunkyu (1861-1864) · nagasa 30cm
Echigo · around 1861-1864
Tōken Taikan top 97%
4 pieces on the market now
Edo was the sword’s age of connoisseurship: the Hon’ami appraisers, the shogunal register of famous blades of 1719, and a thriving literature turned the sword into an object of study even as it ceased to be drawn in war.
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 siteIf, due to our fault, the item differs significantly from its proper condition, the item may be returned. Cooling-off is within one week of the item's arrival.
