Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection
Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection
Lot closes
07:23:35
•
March 25, 03:07 PM GMT
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
Starting Bid
80,000 USD
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Read more.Lot Details
Description
A katana
Attributed to the Aoe school
Kamakura – Nambokucho period, 14th century
Sugata [configuration]: shinogi-zukuri, maru mune, standard mihaba, slight koshizori, chu-kissaki
Kitae [forging pattern]: mokume mixed in ko-itame hada, there is a hint of nagare, with abundant ji-nie
Hamon [tempering pattern]: ko-choji and a hint of gunome mixed in chu-suguha tone, with frequent ko-ashi and yo, there is sunagashi and kinsuji, with ko-nie in a somewhat narrow nioi-guchi
Boshi [tip]: slightly notare, returning in ko-maru
Horimono [carvings]: kakinagasu bohi on the omote and ura
Nakago [tang]: o-suriage, saki is almost kiri, very slight curvature, the yasurime is a shallow katte sagari, one mekugi-ana, unsigned
In shirasaya [plain wood scabbard]
Koshirae [mount]: the black lacquer saya with upper section ribbed in inro kizami, the sentoku fittings inlaid in gold with plovers (chidori) above waves, the iron sukashi tsuba with pierced with birds and geometric design (late 19th century)
Nagasa [length from kissaki to machi]: 72 cm., 28⅜ in.
Sori [curvature]: 1.8 cm., ¾ in,
Saki-haba [width at the yokote]: 1.7 cm., ⅝ in.
Moto-haba [width at the machi]: 2.8 cm., 1⅛ in.
Kissaki length: 2.6 cm., 1 in.
Nakago length: 19 cm., 7½ in.
Accompanied by a certificate of registration as Juyo Token [Important Sword], no. 7887 issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai [Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword], dated Showa 60 (1985).
Art of the Samurai: The Paul L. Davidson Collection (New York, 2023), p. 25 and 82.
This katana displays small clove-like (ko-choji) and invected (ko-gunome) patterns comprising fine particles of martensite (ko-nie deki) within the tempering that is suguha [straightly tempered] in tone. The activity in the cutting edge (ha) is rich: there is an abundance of ashi [narrow strips of soft steel pearlite] and yo [leaf-shaped tempering trails], as well as sunagashi [sweeping lines of martensite] and kinsuji [bright streaks of martensite]. The boshi exhibits a small rounded end of the the tempering line (ko-maru), a trait that is occasionally seen in Aoe school work.
