A KABUTO-WARI, SIGNED GORO-NYUDO MASAMUNE, EDO PERIOD | 19TH CENTURY

A KABUTO-WARI, SIGNED GORO-NYUDO MASAMUNE, EDO PERIOD, 19^TH CENTURY

the four-sided blade with honorific inscription:

Goro-nyudo Masamune kore wo tsukuru [Priest Gorō Masamune (circa 1264–1343) made this sword]

Nihon kaji so-sho [Japanese swordsmith]

Genko gan-nen Shogatsu kichijitsu [Genko 1 (1331) New Year's day]

Kusunoki Tamon-hyoe Masashige [Kusunoki Masashige (1294–1336)]

in a carved wood and black lacquered koshirae in the form of a fish

This kabuto-wari was probably made as a statement of loyalty to the Imperial cause in the Bakumatsu period (1853-1868)

Length of koshirae: 41 cm., 16 in.