Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection
Important Japanese Swords and Armour from the Paul L. Davidson Collection
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March 25, 03:25 PM GMT
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 USD
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Description
An Edo Hojoji School katana with two separate cutting test inscriptions
Signed Omi no kami Hojoji Tachibana Masahiro
Edo period, 17th century
Sugata [configuration]: shinogi-zukuri, iori-mune, fairly slender mihaba, there is a difference in the width of the moto and saki, sori is shallow, slightly stubby chu-kissaki
Kitae [forging pattern]: tight itame-hada, nagare-hada mixed in towards the ha, with fine ji-nie, and there is chikei
Hamon [tempering pattern]: a hint of shallow notare in a suguba tone, and in the upper half as it goes upward the yakihaba increases, the nioi is wide, with abundant ko-nie, the habuchi is hotsure, and there are long nie-suji in the ha
Boshi [tip]: suguba and ko-maru
Habaki [collar]: double clad, gold on copper
Nakago [tang]: ubu, the saki is iriyamagata, the yasurime is sujikai, one mekugi-ana, there is a long signature (nagamei) on the sashi omote below the mekugi-ana and towards the mune, and on the ura there are two separate cutting test inscriptions in gold inlay Kanbun gonen junigatsu nijuni-nichi karigane setsudan Yamano Kauemon Nagahisa (Cut through at the karigane line by Yamano Kauemon Nagahisa, 22nd day of the 12th month 1665) and kao [cursive monogram] and Kanbun rokunen sangatsu nanoka, wakike kiriotosu Yamano Kanjuro Hisahide (Cut through at the wakike line by Yamano Kanjuro Hisahide, 7th day of the 7th month 1666) and kao
In shirasaya [plain wood scabbard] with sayagaki by Yoshikawa Kentaro
Koshirae [mount]: the later (19th century) plain black lacquer saya, the shakudo tsuba pierced with a woven flower basket containing field chrysanthemum (nogiku), signed Shoakudo Sunagawa Masayoshi and kao [cursive monogram], the solid silver fuchi-kashira and kojiri chased and engraved with a profusion of chrysanthemum flowerheads, the fuchi signed Hakuryusai Toshitaka and kao, the shakudo menuki in the form of further chrysanthemum, gold and silver details, black silk tsuka-ito and sageo
Nagasa [length from kissaki to machi]: 75.8 cm., 29⅞ in.
Sori [curvature]: 1.1 cm., ⅜ in.
Saki-haba [width at the yokote]: 2.9 cm., 1⅛ in.
Moto-haba [width at the machi]: 1.9 cm., ¾ in.
Kissaki nagasa [length of the kissaki]: 3.2 cm., 1¼ in.
Nakago nagasa [length of the tang]: 23.2 cm., 9⅛
Accompanied by a certificate of registration as Juyo Token [Important Sword], no.8140 issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai [Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword], dated Showa 62 (1987).
Art of the Samurai: The Paul L. Davidson Collection (New York, 2023), p. 38.
Hojoji Masahiro was the founder of the Edo Hojoji school. He was born in the province Tajima and later moved to the newly established capital of Edo (modern day Tokyo). Although there are two generations that use the same signature, the periods in which they were active, as well as idiosyncrasies in their signatures, allow for a relatively definitive attribution.
The style of signature in the present katana is in alignment with the first-generation Masahiro. The blade is widely tempered nioi suguha [straight tempering pattern parallel with the sword's edge rendered with a cloudy luminous martensitic effect] with abundant fine particles of martensite (ko-nie) typical of his workmanship.
Masahiro was a contemporary of Kotetsu, which his work closely resembles . The accompanying sayagaki by Yoshikawa Kentaro attests to this, describing the blade as similar to Kotetsu’s finest forging. Tanobe Michihiro examined this blade in Atlanta Georgia in 1989 and stated that this was one of Masahiro’s superior works.
The double cutting test is by two different members of the Yamano family. The karigane line is a line across the upper body drawn at the armpits just below the shoulder bones. Wakike is a more antiquated term for the karigane line.
