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Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection

Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection

  • View full screen - View 2 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 3 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 4 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 5 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 6 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 7 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 8 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 9 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 2 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 3 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 4 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 5 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 6 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 7 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 8 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .
  • View full screen - View 9 of Lot 722. A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century .

A tanto | Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province) | Edo period, 17th century

Lot Closed

March 25, 03:22 PM GMT

Estimate

12,000 - 18,000 USD

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Lot Details

Description

A tanto

Signed Hizen kuni junin Tadayoshi (Tadayoshi [1st generation], a resident of Hizen Province)

Edo period, 17th century

 

Sugata [configuration]: hira-zukuri, iori mune, very slightly curvature, slightly wide mihaba and thick kasane

Kitae [forging pattern]: fine ko-nuka hada mixed with itame, rich ji-nie with much chikei

Hamon [tempering pattern]: fairly narrow suguha, subdued nioiguchi

Boshi [tip]: ko-maru with short turnback

Habaki [collar]: double clad, gold on copper

Nakago [tang]: ubu, slightly rounded kurijiri, kiri file markings, two mekugi-ana

In shirasaya [plain wood scabbard] with sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro

Koshirae [mount]: the red lacquer koshirae with an ishime ground, the fittings associated variously depicting the Lunar Hare

Nagasa [length from kissaki to machi]: 36.4 cm., 14⅜ in.

Moto-haba [width at the machi]: 3.2 cm., 1¼ in.

 

Accompanied by a certificate of registration as Tokubetsu Hozon Token [Sword Especially Worthy of Preservation], no. 1000177 issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai [Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword], dated Heisei 24 (2012). 

Art of the Samurai: The Paul L. Davidson Collection (New York, 2023), p. 51.

Hashimoto Shinzaemon (Hizen Tadayoshi I, 1574-1532) was born in Saga, Kyushu. He was the swordsmith for the Nabeshima clan of Hizen Province. He travelled to Kyoto in 1596 to study under Umetada Myoju (1558-1631) for three years, after which he returned to his home province to set up a forge in the castle town of Nagase. He was invested with the title of 'Musashi Daijo' in 1624, and from then assumed the name Tadahiro.


Hizen school blades display extremely fine ko-nie hada with rich and even ji-nie, abundant ko-nie in the tempering pattern ranging from suguha to gunome, and a characteristic form of rounded choji with long ashi sometimes extending close to the cutting edge. The work of Hizen Tadayoshi I in particular is noted for its pronounced chikei and suimi-hada with fine variations in the tempering pattern.

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