Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection
Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection
A wakizashi | Signed Bishu Osafune Morimitsu (Morimitsu from Osafune in Bizen Province) | Muromachi period, dated Oei jushichinen juichigatsu hi (a day in the 11th month 1410)
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March 25, 03:13 PM GMT
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30,000 - 40,000 USD
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Description
A wakizashi
Signed Bishu Osafune Morimitsu (Morimitsu from Osafune in Bizen Province)
Muromachi period, dated Oei jushichinen juichigatsu hi (a day in the 11th month 1410)
Sugata [configuration]: hira-zukuri, iori-mune, slightly wide mihaba, shallow curvature
Kitae [forging pattern]: itame-hada combined with mokume in company with ji-nie and chikei, looks like black steel and then bo-utsuri appears
Hamon [tempering pattern]: choji mixed with gunome, sporadic koshi-no-hiraita-gunome then ashi and yo are seen inside the hamon, consists of tight nioi accompanied with ko-nie, some parts of the hamon tend to slant
Boshi [tip]: midare-komi then turns back with pointed tip
Nakago [tang]: ubu, sujikai file markings, three mekugi-ana
Habaki [collar]: single clad, gold on copper, chased and engraved
In shirasaya [plain wood scabbard] with sayagaki by Tanobe Michihiro
Nagasa [length from kissaki to machi]: 46.5 cm., 18½ in.
Sori [curvature]: 0.9 cm., ¼ in.
Accompanied by a certificate of registration as Juyo Token [Important Sword], no. 10572 issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai [Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword] dated Heisei 11 (1999).
Token Bijutsu, issue no. 515 (December, 1999), p. 10-11.
Literature: Art of the Samurai: The Paul L. Davidson Collection (New York, 2023), p. 31.
Along with Yasumitsu, Morimitsu is a representative smith of the early Muromachi period (1392-1573) Oei-Bizen school. He forged wakizashi in hira-zukuri with narrow blade length (mihaba) in proportion to the ha-watari and shallow curvature. The pattern of his forging was typically of a wood grain style surface (itame-hada) combined with wood burl (mokume), accented by fine chikei which produces clear bo-utsuri , or pole-shaped utsuri, on the steel surface (ji).
The Oei-Bizen school appear to have aspired to the works of the Ichimonji school. The tempering pattern blends clove-like (choji) and 'shaped convex arcs' (katachi-gunome), typical of the Ichimonji school, as well as the smiths Kagemitsu and Nagamitsu, but the koshi-no-hiraita-gunome and candleflame-like boshi clearly distinguishes the work as hailing from the Oei-Bizen school.