Japanese

Ko Tosho School Swordsmith Made Koto Katana Tsuba Circa 1400

The strong, softly lustrous metal and very well cut, the large Hitsu-ana, and the antique chisel marks around the Hitsu-ana are all characteristic indications of early-Muromachi period works. Carved openwork clan mon. The Hitsu-ana, made when the guard was first produced, suggests that it is a work of the time of Yoshimitsu. A well worked and hammered plate. According to tradition, it says each time a Tosho made a to-ken, he made a habaki with his own hands, and at the same time he also added a single tsuba such as this.
The earliest Tosho tsuba are referred to in Japanese as Ko-Tosho old sword smith and date from the Genpei War (1180-1185) to middle Muromachi Period (1400-1500).

During the late Kamakura Period large Ko-Tosho tsuba were developed and were used mostly as field mounts for odachi by high-ranking Samurai during and after the Mongol invasion of Japan in Genko Jidai (1274-1281 ) in the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) the Ko-Tosho tsuba became even more common with the development and popularization of the onehanded sword uchigatana as the only sword of Ashigaru.
The most common design characteristic, next to the plain flat plate, for Ko-Tosho tsuba is kosukashi the simplistic use of small negative silhouetted openwork. The most common openwork designs are of mon (family crest), sun, moon, tools, plants, Buddhist, Shinto and sometimes Christian religious symbols. The plates iron is characteristically of a good temper, having good hardness and elasticity. The plate is made of local iron forged by the swordsmith or apprentice, the same as for Japanese sword blades. 74mm  read more

Code: 19741

A Most Unusual & Rare Edo Period Katana Tsuba, With Rotational Fitting. This is An Incdibly Rare Form of Tsuba in that it Has Two Methods To Mount It On Katana. Vertical or Horizontal

An iron sukashi tsuba, cut with four different shaped symbols as kozuka-ana and kogai-ana, and two, North and South, or East and West facing blade apertures, to enable the rotation of the tsuba when mounting it onto the blade. Thus altering the profile of the tsuka from wide to narrow.
The tsuba is always usually a round, ovoid or occasionally squarish guard at the end of the tsuka of bladed Japanese weapons but always usually designed to be worn one way upon the sword, either the katana and its various declinations, tachi, wakizashi, tanto, and polearms that have a tsuba, such as naginata etc.

They contribute to the balance of the weapon and to the protection of the hand. The tsuba was mostly meant to be used to prevent the hand from sliding onto the blade during thrusts as opposed to protecting from an opponent's blade. The chudan no kamae guard is determined by the tsuba and the curvature of the blade. The diameter of the average katana tsuba is 7.58 centimetres (3.0-3.1 in), wakizashi tsuba is (2.4-2.6 in), and tanto tsuba is 4.5-6 cm (1.8-2.4 in).

During the Muromachi period (1333-1573) and the Momoyama period (1573-1603) Tsuba were more for functionality than for decoration, being made of stronger metals and designs. During the Edo period (1603-1868) tsuba became more ornamental and made of less practical metals such as gold.

Tsuba are usually finely decorated, and are highly desirable collectors' items in their own right. Tsuba were made by whole dynasties of craftsmen whose only craft was making tsuba. They were usually lavishly decorated. In addition to being collectors items, they were often used as heirlooms, passed from one generation to the next. Japanese families with samurai roots sometimes have their family crest (mon) crafted onto a tsuba. Tsuba can be found in a variety of metals and alloys, including iron, steel, brass, copper and shakudo. In a duel, two participants may lock their katana together at the point of the tsuba and push, trying to gain a better position from which to strike the other down. This is known as tsubazeriai pushing tsuba against each other.  read more

Code: 16704

A Most Pleasant Reminder of An Interview We Gave With The Japanese Press

We received a most pleasant surprise from a Japanese friend who works in the Japanese Consulate in Piccadilly, London.

It was his copy of a most informal interview that we gave during our stock listing, it was a boiling hot summers day, and our air con was struggling.

It was with a most polite and courteous journalist {they all are in fact} from a Japanese newspaper a little while ago.  read more

Code: 23310

A Superb, Ancient Koto Long Katana, Circa 1390 to1420 With a Very Fine Suite of Jakushi Iron & Gold Koshirae, A Signed Tsuba, and Matching Jukushi Fuchi-Kashira. The Stunning Black Saya Has Four Aoi Mon in Hiramaki-e Gold Lacquer of The Tokugawa

A 600 to 630 year old, long and mighty blade, of 29 inches, measured from the tsuba to tip in beautiful condition, with a fabulous hamon. This is a most impressive ancient sword from the great warring period of Japan Samurai endured for almost 700 years, from 1185 to 1867. Samurai families were considered the elite. They made up only about six percent of the population and included daimyo and the loyal soldiers who fought under them. Samurai means one who serves."
The late saya bears 4 deep relief gold aoi gold mon hiramaki-e low relief lacquer, the triple hollyhock leaf, of the Tokugawa, on a fine black lacquer ground. The tsuka has just been re bound in stunning black silk ito.
The theme of the koshirae is influenced by the Province of Hizen (肥前國). Forged iron (tetsu 鉄) hand guard (tsuba 鐔) is a work of the Jakushi (杓子) School based in the port city of Nagasaki (長崎) in Hizen Province, and inlaid with small silver and gold detailing. The artistic scene on both sides of the tsuba is that of a Chinese style painting made popular during the Ming Dynasty that was exported to southern Japan during the beginning of the Edo Period with the collapse of the Ming Dynasty (1644 CE). The fuchi-gashira (縁頭) is made of forged iron. The tsuba is signed by Jakushi (杓子) on its obverse face. The signature style is consistent with what the Jakushi School used during the Edo Period.

When this sword was first made it would have been the period of the end of the Nanboku-chō period, when a form of civil war was fought between the Northern Japanese Emperor and the Southern Japanese Emperor. Go-Kameyama acceded to the throne during the turbulent Nanboku-chō period during which rival claimants to the Chrysanthemum Throne gathered supporters around them in what were known as the Northern court and the Southern Court. Go-Kameyama became Emperor in what was called the Southern court when Emperor Chōkei abdicated in 1383. On October 15, 1392, at the insistence of the peace faction amongst his own courtiers, he applied to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu for peace; and he subsequently returned to the capital where he did hand over the Sacred Treasures to his Northern Court rival. In doing so, Go-Kameyama was understood to have abdicated.
From then it was in the era of use in the
1419 Ōei Invasion to Wokou bases on Tsushima Island
1428 Cholera epidemic and extreme impoverishment in now Shiga Prefecture have resulted in the Shocho uprising.
1438 Flare-up of Eikyō disturbance in the Kantō region after 22 years of confrontation between local lords and shogunate
1443 The Treaty of Gyehae was signed, resulting in Wokou pirates becoming increasingly non-Japanese.
1454 The Kyōtoku Incident starts the 32 years of instability and bloodshed in the semi-independent Kantō region.
1457 Takeda Nobuhiro emerged victorious after repelling an Ainu assault on Kaminokuni, Hokkaido, marking the beginning of Japanese conquest of Hokkaido.
Edo Castle, a nucleus of modern Tokyo, was built.
1459 Bad handling of the Kanshō famine in the aftermath of flood and plague in Kyoto has resulted in increasing divisions of society, which led to the Sengoku period
The Sengoku period Sengoku Jidai, "Warring States period" is a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war, social upheaval, and intrigue from 1467 to 1615.

The Sengoku period was initiated by the Onin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga Shogunate. Various samurai warlords and clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the Ikkō-ikki emerged to fight against samurai rule. The arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga Shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but their eventual failure damaged his prestige before his death in 1598. Tokugawa Ieyasu displaced Hideyoshi's young son and successor Toyotomi Hideyori at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and re-established the feudal system under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Sengoku period ended when Toyotomi loyalists were defeated at the siege of Osaka in 1615.

The Sengoku period was named by Japanese historians after the similar but otherwise unrelated Warring States period of China.  read more

Code: 24034

Superb Early to Mid Edo,Museum Quality Signed Samurai War Helmet Kabuto, by Nobutada, of 21 'Helmet Skull' or 'Bowl Plates', with a Leaping Animal, Carved Wooden and Gold Maedate & Clan Mon of the Sakai Clan, & “Fierce Face” Ressai, Face Armour

A truly fabulous, original, Edo samurai's antique kabuto, war helmet, worthy of a museum display, the best samurai or Japanese art collections, or as a single 'statement' piece for any home. This is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful and fine original antique samurai war helmets, kabuto, we have seen for a jolly long time. Helmets of such beauty and quality as this can be prized and valued as much as a complete original samurai armour.

The imposing beauty of the helmet is entrancing, and the menpo {the moustached, grimacing expression face armour} sets it off superbly with a most intimidating presence. When this was worn by its fierce-some armoured samurai he must have looked spectacularly impressive.

A 21 plate goshozan sujibachi kabuto, with ressei {fierce face } mempo face armour, that has just returned from having the mempo's moustache expertly conserved, and it looks as good as new.

Probably a 17th-18th century, 21 ken plate, Sujibachi, which is a multiple-plate type of Japanese helmet skull bowl with raised ridges or ribs showing where the 21 tate hagi-no-ita (helmet plates) come together creating the main skull bowl bachi, and culminating at the multi stage tehen kanamono finial, with the fukurin metal edges on each of the standing plates.
The mabisashi peak is lacquered and it has a four-tier lacquered iron hineno-jikoro neck-guard laced with gold, and the skull is surmounted by a gilt-lacquered wood leaping animal, the maedate (forecrest), possibly a rabbit or deer, the Fukigaeshi small front wings shows the mon crest symbol of a plain form katabami mon {the wood sorrel flower}.

It's one of popular kamon that is a design of the flower of oxalis corniculata.
The founder of the clan that chose this flower as their mon had wished that their descendants would flourish well. Because oxalis corniculata is renown, and fertile plant.
the mon form as used by clans such as the Sakai, including daimyo lord Sakai Tadayo

One of the great Sakai clan lords was Sakai Tadayo (酒井 忠世, July 14, 1572 – April 24, 1636). He was a Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku period, and high-ranking government advisor, holding the title of Rōjū, and later Tairō. You can see his image in the gallery wearing the very same form of war helmet kabuto.

The son of Sakai Shigetada, Tadayo was born in Nishio, Mikawa Province; his childhood name was Manchiyo. He became a trusted elder (rōjū) in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's government, alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu. Under Hideyoshi, he was made lord of Kawagoe Castle (in Musashi Province, today Saitama Prefecture) and later of Nagoya Castle in Kyūshū's Hizen Province. In 1600, in the lead-up to the decisive Sekigahara campaign, he fought against the Tokugawa at Aizu, and submitted to them at the siege of Ueda. Thus, having joined the Tokugawa prior to the battle of Sekigahara itself, Sakai was made a fudai daimyō, and counted among the Tokugawa's more trusted retainers. He served under Ieyasu for a time, and under the second shōgun, Tokugawa Hidetada, as a hatamoto.
The lacquered iron menpo (face mask) with four-lame yodarekake face armour. The kabuto is signed on the interior Nobutada saku Nobutada made this

After the introduction of firearms, smoke blanketed many battlefields, causing confusion for the troops. So they could be more readily identified, samurai began to wear helmets with elaborate ornaments at the front, back, or sides, often featuring an intricate crest (maedate).

In their quest for unique and meaningful armour, samurai turned to nature, folklore, or religion for inspiration. Whatever the source, they selected designs for their armor that would set them apart and communicate their personality and beliefs, whether whimsical, frightening, or spiritual.

An antique woodblock print in the gallery, likely of Sakai Tadayo, showing his same form of war helmet kabuto, decorated with his same Sakai clan mon of the katabami, and he also has a leaping animal, gold covered carved wood, as his maedate helmet crest as has ours. And he has the same 'fierce face' mempo face armour with the very same style of elaborate, pronounced moustache.

The Fukigaeshi on the left facing side of the helmet shows the mon crest symbol of a plain katabami mon but small surface lacquer area partly missing. There are very small age nicks to the helmet lacquer. It has its original helmet lining but most removed back to reveal the signature

Every single item from The Lanes Armoury is accompanied by our unique Certificate of Authenticity. Part of our continued dedication to maintain the standards forged by us over the past 100 years of our family’s trading, as Britain’s oldest established, and favourite, armoury and gallery  read more

Code: 25056

A Shinto Samurai Yari Pole Arm Signed Yamashiro Kami Fujiwara Norishige, Probably Yamashiro-no-Kami Fujiwara Kunishige, Early Edo Period

A beautiful Edo Period Samurai Horseman Ryo-Shinogi Yari Polearm on original haft, signed.
With original pole and iron foot mount ishizuki. Four sided double edged head. The mochi-yari, or "held spear", is a rather generic term for the shorter Japanese spear. It was especially useful to mounted Samurai. In mounted use, the spear was generally held with the right hand and the spear was pointed across the saddle to the soldiers left front corner. The warrior's saddle was often specially designed with a hinged spear rest (yari-hasami) to help steady and control the spear's motion. The mochi-yari could also easily be used on foot and is known to have been used in castle defense. The martial art of wielding the yari is called sojutsu. A yari on it's pole can range in length from one metre to upwards of six metres (3.3 to 20 feet).
The longer hafted versions were called omi no yari while shorter ones were known as mochi yari or tae yari. The longest hafted versions were carried by foot troops (ashigaru), while samurai usually carried a shorter hafted yari. Yari are believed to have been derived from Chinese spears, and while they were present in early Japan's history they did not become popular until the thirteenth century.

The original warfare of the bushi was not a thing for "commoners"; it was a ritualized combat usually between two warriors who may challenge each other via horseback archery and sword duels. However, the attempted Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 changed Japanese weaponry and warfare. The Mongol-employed Chinese and Korean footmen wielded long pikes, fought in tight formation, and moved in large units to stave off cavalry. Polearms (including naginata and yari) were of much greater military use than swords, due to their much greater range, their lesser weight per unit length (though overall a polearm would be fairly hefty), and their great piercing ability. Swords in a full battle situation were therefore relegated to emergency sidearm status from the Heian through the Muromachi periods.  read more

Code: 25187

A Beautiful Koto Period Ancient Aikuchi Tanto Circa 1500, With An Equally Beautiful Blade

Around 500 years old.

With kodzuka utility knife decorated with deep relief takebori crabs. Unusually the saya is covered with black lacquered leather. All original Edo period mounts and fittings. Silver inlaid iron hilt mounts with patinated copper menuki of shishi liondogs. The saya has a small mount of a silver inlaid quail. The blade has now just returned from re-polishing and looks absolutely beautiful. The tanto was invented partway through the Heian period, when it was mainly used as a weapon. With the beginning of the Kamakura period, tanto were forged to be more aesthetically pleasing, and hira and uchi-sori tanto were the most popular styles for wars in the kamakura period. Near the middle of the Kamakura period, more tanto artisans were seen, increasing the abundance of the weapon, and the kanmuri-otoshi style became prevalent in the cities of Kyoto and Yamato. Because of the style introduced by the tachi in the late Kamakura period, tanto began to be forged longer and wider. The introduction of the Hachiman faith became visible in the carvings in the tanto hilts around this time. The hamon (line of temper) is similar to that of the tachi, except for the absence of choji-midare, which is nioi and utsuri. Gunomi-midare and suguha are found to have taken its place. In Nambokucho, the tanto were forged to be up to forty centimetres as opposed to the normal one shaku (about thirty centimetres) length. The tanto blades became thinner between the uri and the omote, and wider between the ha and mune. At this point in time, two styles of hamon were prevalent: the older style, which was subtle and artistic, and the newer, more popular style. Blades could be of exceptional quality. As the end of the period neared, the average blade narrowed and the sori became shallow. The aikuchi is a tanto koshirae where the fuchi is flush with the mouth of the saya. Overall 21 3/4 inches long, blade length 12 1/4 inches  read more

Code: 23142

A Shinto Samurai Naganata Naoshi Wakizashi With Shakudo Edo Fittings & Full Edo Traditional Polish

Just returned from a year of expert artisan conservation polish of the original Edo polish blade and cleaning. Now looking superb, the unokubi zukuri bo-hi blade with a vivid toran great wave hamon, is mounted with all original Edo shakudo koshirae of fuchigashira, decorated with takebori drinking gourd and woodsman’s axe, flower basket menuki and kozuka, which is decorated shakudo with gold birds in flight over the sea. With an iron and copper and gold onlay mokko form tsuba decorated with a seated figure in a gold patterned robe, alongside the river below Mount Fuji.
Beautiful urushi spiral lacquer pattern saya, The original Edo period urushi lacquer on the saya is in simply excellent condition and shows most elegant simplicity, it reveals within that simplicity the finest craftsmanship and beauty worthy of a master of the art of urushi decor. Japanese lacquer, or urushi, is a transformative and highly prized material that has been refined for over 7000 years.

Cherished for its infinite versatility, urushi is a distinctive art form that has spread across all facets of Japanese culture from the tea ceremony to the saya scabbards of samurai swords

Japanese artists created their own style and perfected the art of decorated lacquerware during the 8th century. Japanese lacquer skills reached its peak as early as the twelfth century, at the end of the Heian period (794-1185). This skill was passed on from father to son and from master to apprentice.

Tōran-ba is a hamon which looks like as if surging waves are rolling back and forth. It was created by a swordsmith in Settsu (Osaka prefecture), Sukehiro, in the early Edo period. It is the very first pictorial hamon which showed “a hamon as an expression”. It had a great influence on many swordsmiths over time. It is an innovative hamon which is copied on some swords made from the Bakumatsu.
A very few minuscule blade age marks..  read more

Code: 24707

A Beautiful Koto Katana With Full Length Hi Blade Fuller, Circa 1500. Around 500 Years Old

This is a beautiful Katana that has a simply superbly beautiful blade with amost elegant curvature and a beautiful choji hamon with crabclaw. It has 3 mekugi ana [peg holes] in the tang, which is a sign of a really early sword. With a full suite of matching original Edo period koshirae with matching kojiri, and long gold folded fan menuki. Original Edo period silk wrap [tsukaito]. It shows beautiful activity in the hamon. A very nice early iron tsuba with open piercing. 27.25 inch blade length, tsuba to tip. The saya scabbard has superb dark brown ishime [stone finish] lacquer. A samurai was recognised by his carrying the feared daisho, the big sword [daito], little sword [shoto] of the samurai warrior. These were the battle katana, the big sword, and the wakizashi, the little sword. The name katana derives from two old Japanese written characters or symbols: kata, meaning side, and na, or edge. Thus a katana is a single-edged sword that has had few rivals in the annals of war, either in the East or the West. Because the sword was the main battle weapon of Japan's knightly man-at-arms (although spears and bows were also carried), an entire martial art grew up around learning how to use it. This was kenjutsu, the art of sword fighting, or kendo in its modern, non-warlike incarnation. The importance of studying kenjutsu and the other martial arts such as kyujutsu, the art of the bow, was so critical to the samurai, a very real matter of life or death, that Miyamoto Musashi, most renowned of all swordsmen, warned in his classic The Book of Five Rings: The science of martial arts for warriors requires construction of various weapons and understanding the properties of the weapons. A member of a warrior family who does not learn to use weapons and understand the specific advantages of each weapon would seem to be somewhat uncultivated. This fine samurai sword, like all true and original samurai swords, would have been the prize possession of every samurai that owned it. It would most likely have cost more than his home, and would certainly have been more important.
This is just one reason why fine Japanese sword steel, even of this tremendous age, is in such good state of preservation. When a katana such as this has been, for its entire existence, so highly revered, treasured and appreciated, it will have been cared for most sensitively and treated with the utmost respect during its entire life. In many regards it will have represented the only thing that stood between its samurai owner, of which there may have been 30 or more during this swords great history, and his ultimate downfall in a combat situation. The late Muromachi period was a time of continuous upheaval and war. The demand for swords was high and they needed to have excellent cutting ability. As such, Sukesada swords from this time that have survived to this day can be fine pieces.  read more

Code: 23408

A Stunning and Fine Edo Period Antique Nanban Iron and Gold Sukashi Tsuba with Pagoda Scene

Superb Nanban tsuba in Iron and gold highlights Landscape scene of a pagoda, bridge, prunus tree and river.
Nanban often regarded as meaning Southern Barbarian, are very much of the Chinese influence. The Chinese influence on this group of tsuba was of more import than the Western one, however, and resulted not merely in the utilisation of fresh images by the existing schools, but also in the introduction of a
completely fresh style of metalworking.
The term 'namban' was also used by the Japanese to describe an iron of foreign origin.
Neither can the Namban group be considered to represent 'native Japanese art'.
The required presence in the group, by definition, of 'foreign influence', together with the possibility of their being 'foreign made', was probably responsible for their great popularity at the time.

Tsuba are usually finely decorated, and are highly desirable collectors' items in their own right. Tsuba were made by whole dynasties of craftsmen whose only craft was making tsuba. They were usually lavishly decorated. In addition to being collectors items, they were often used as heirlooms, passed from one generation to the next. Japanese families with samurai roots sometimes have their family crest (mon) crafted onto a tsuba. Tsuba can be found in a variety of metals and alloys, including iron, steel, brass, copper and shakudo. In a duel, two participants may lock their katana together at the point of the tsuba and push, trying to gain a better position from which to strike the other down.
68mm x 72mm  read more

Code: 24078