Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection
Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection
Lot closes
04:24:15
•
March 25, 03:21 PM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 50,000 USD
Starting Bid
30,000 USD
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Read more.Lot Details
Description
A katana
Signed Hizen no kuni Dewa no kami Yukihiro Oranda tetsuo motte saku (made with Dutch steel, Dewa no kami Yukihiro from Hizen Province)
Edo period, 17th century
Sugata [configuration]: shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, mihaba is wide, somewhat of a difference in the width of the moto and saki, there is a hint of funbari, with a deep sori, and the chu-kissaki is slightly elongated
Kitae [forging pattern]: tight ko-itame, with very fine ji-nie thickly applied, and there is fine chikei
Hamon [tempering pattern]: a mixed flamboyant midare with gunome and a hint of togari in a choji-midare, with long ashi appearing profusely, wide nioi, with thick nie, coarse nie mixed in here and there, long sunagashi throughout, and there is kinsuji
Boshi [tip]: sugu in an o-maru style, with an extremely shallow return, and is hakkake
Nakago [tang]: ubu, very slight curvature, the saki is ha-agari kurijiri, the yasurime is o-sujikai, one mekugi-ana, on the haki omote there is an ichi mark in the centre below the habaki, and there is a nagamei below that towards the mune
Habaki [collar]: gold on copper, double clad
In shirasaya [plain wood scabbard] with sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro
Nagasa [length from kissaki to machi]: 69.5 cm., 27⅜ in.
Sori [curvature]: 2.1 cm., ¾ in.
Saki-haba [width at the yokote]: 2.1 cm., ¾ in.
Moto-haba [width at the machi]: 2.9 cm., 1⅛ in.
Kissaki length: 3.6 cm., 1⅜ in.
Nakago length: 19.7 cm., 7¾ in.
Accompanied by a certificate of registration as Juyo Token [Important Sword], no. 10025 issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai [Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword], Heisei 8 (1996).
Art of the Samurai: The Paul L. Davidson Collection (New York, 2023), p. 39.
The first-generation Yukihiro (1617-1682) is thought to be the second son of Hashimoto Yoshinobu. His elder brother was the smith Kawachi no Daijo Masahiro. He received the title of Dewa no Daijo in 1648, and later Dewa no Kami in 1663. He moved to Nagasaki In 1650, where it is said he studied Dutch forging techniques from the smiths Hisatsugu, known as the 'The Dutch Smith' (Oranda kaji), and Rakushiji Tanenaga.
In this present katana, there is a tight wood grain pattern in the forging with very fine and thick ji-nie. There are applications of fine chikei [thin greyish lines, probably martensite, running with the grain of the sword]. The tempering pattern primarily comprises convex arcs (gunome), with slight togari mixed in irregular clove-like forms (choji-midare). The workmanship is very flamboyant: there is a profusion of ashi [narrow strips of soft steel], a wide luminous martensite effect (nioi) , thick shining particles of martensite (nie), kinsuji [lit. gold lines] and sunagashi [lit. flowing sand], among other activity.
The irregular clove-like mode of tempering was a particular skill of the smith, and the elongated ashi are frequently discernible in the works of the first generation Yukihiro.
The sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro has been translated as:
Hizen Ichimonji Dewa no Kami Yukihiro
This is an excellent piece among the works of the first-generation.
This has been designated as Important Sword, and is very exceptional.
Blade length: two shaku, two sun and nine and a half bu.
Early February 1997, the Year of the Fire Rabbit according to the 4th term of the sexagenary cycle.
Confirmed by Tanobe Michihiro and kao [cursive monogram].
