Beautiful, Original 'Tamashigiri Cutting Test' Antique Samurai Katana Signed By High Rated Master Smith, Masashige Tegarayama, 手柄山正繁 With Highly Rare Tamashigiri Cutting Test, By Gonnosuke Komatsubara, Dated 1799. & A Buddhist Eightfold Path Tsuba

The tsuka has Higo school, Edo period, plain iron fuchi kashira, and a very nice pair of gold dragon with ken menuki, and a fine copper habaki with blue-green silk tsuka-ito over traditional samegawa {giant rayskin}.

An elegant full length hi horimono blade, with a narrow suguha hamon, with just a few, as can occasionally be expected from swords kept in the UK in the 1870’s, minuscule, age and edge marks mostly to one side of the blade, thus priced accordingly. Signed by a master smith of great status dated and tested by the execution of a criminal by a a shogunate approved tamashgiri master of the Yamada family.

By Masashige Tegarayama. 手柄山　正繁
He was famous and highly regarded as a sword smith .
On the other side is a man named Gonnosuke Komatsubara. 小松原　権之助.
He is the tamegashiri master who tested the sharpness of this sword when he was going to execute a criminal with it.
The date is August 13,1799 （寛政十一年八月十三日）and the only people who could execute a criminal were those from family recognized by the shogunate, and who were adopted by the sixth head of that family Yoshimasa Yamada. 山田吉昌. known as the Shogun's Executioners
The text next to the date indicated the evaluation of the sharpness of the sword.
The characters written are “Chichiwari Dodan “ 乳割　土壇　which means that the criminal was laid on a foundation piled with earth, and when the chest was cut , the cut reached the ground, this is a record of where the sword was actually cut and how far it cut.

The tsuba is a super example of an eight-spoke wheel that connects the rim to the plate in this Katchushi Tsuba, likely Koto period circa 450 years old. The ‘spokes’, which symbolize the ‘eight fold path’, radiate from the plate, of ribbed octagonal rim. The surface has perfect colouration and patina, the quality of iron is very good. The Buddhist Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi ('meditative absorption or union'; alternatively, unanimous meditative awareness)

Katchushi means armoursmith in Japanese.
So, it is said that the definition of Katchushi-Tsuba is tsuba made by armour-smiths.

The saya has a beautiful black urushi lacquer ribbed top section, with a bottom section of nishiji gold urushi lacquer.

Tameshigiri (試し斬り, 試し切り, 試斬, 試切) is the Japanese art of target test cutting. The kanji literally mean "test cut" (kun'yomi: ためし ぎり tameshi giri). This practice was popularized in the Edo period (17th century) for testing the quality of Japanese swords. It continues to the present day, but has evolved into a martial art which focuses on demonstrating the practitioner's skill with a sword.
The practice of tameshigiri flourished during the Edo period, from 1600 to 1868. These blade tests were mainly conducted on katanas and wakizashis, which together are known as daishōs. Samurai warriors would perform these tests for their own use to ensure the sharpness of their future weapon. They could also carry out tameshigiri tests on behalf of their daimyō, testing katanas intended for their warlord's armies.

Different types of cuts were tested on various swords, each trajectory having its own name. For example, a vertical cut from the top of the body was called kami tatewari, while a vertical cut from the bottom was referred to as shimo tatewari. After each test, the number of bodies cut was inscribed on the tang of the blade, the nakago or 茎. This number was either marked with a file or inscribed as a column, along with the date, the name of the tester, and the cutting results. This katana has that very form of highly rare inscription on its nakago.
For some tests they were placed on a sand mound, about 11.81 inches high, known as dodan. To keep the bodies in place, four pieces of bamboo were fixed to hold the targets, referred to as hasamitake. The performance of the blade was then measured in terms of the number of bodies cut and the depth of the cut in centimeters. Renowned and proud swordsmiths would attend these events to witness their creations being tested. They would dress in ceremonial white kimonos for the occasion. If a blade failed the test, it brought such dishonour that the only way to cleanse their honour was through seppuku, ritual suicide.

The samurai were roughly the equivalent of feudal knights. Employed by the shogun or daimyo, they were members of hereditary warrior class that followed a strict "code" that defined their clothes, armour and behaviour on the battlefield. But unlike most medieval knights, samurai warriors could read and they were well versed in Japanese art, literature and poetry. Samurai were expected to be both fierce warriors and lovers of art, a dichotomy summed up by the Japanese concepts of bu to stop the spear exanding into bushido (the way of life of the warrior) and bun (the artistic, intellectual and spiritual side of the samurai). Originally conceived as away of dignifying raw military power, the two concepts were synthesized in feudal Japan and later became a key feature of Japanese culture and morality.The quintessential samurai was Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary early Edo-period swordsman who reportedly killed 60 men before his 30th birthday and was also a painting master. Members of a hierarchal class or caste, samurai were the sons of samurai and they were taught from an early age to unquestionably obey their mother, father and daimyo. When they grew older they could be trained by Zen Buddhist masters in meditation and the Zen concepts of impermanence and harmony with nature. The were also taught about painting, calligraphy, nature poetry, mythological literature, flower arranging, and the tea ceremony.

Code: 25464