Japanese

Please View & Explore Probably The Largest Selection Of Original Antique & Historical Samurai Arms From The Past 800 Years For Sale in The World. Including, Swords, Spears, Armour, Helmets, Long Bows, Arrows, Daggers & Sword Fittings

Our amazing collection of recently acquired fine antique Edo samurai war arrows ‘ tagari ya’ and rare swallow tail 'ageha ya’, a dozen ‘kazuya’ ya target arrows, plus a superb collection of 20 fabulous Koto to Shinto tsubas, have still yet to be collated and listed on our site. Plus more swords, tanto, both antique and WW2 shingunto etc.

“Weaponry both ancient and vintage, they all have style and a story to tell”

"Over the past 54 years I have personally supervised our company's determination to try provide the most historically interesting, educational, yet none too intimidating, gallery of original Japanese Samurai artefacts for sale in the collecting world. We were told a few years ago by Victor Harris { Japanese sword expert resident consultant at the British Museum, the UK's leading nihonto specialist} that we probably display the largest selection of original, fine samurai sword weaponry for sale, and of its kind, anywhere in the world.

Principally concentrating on a crucial combination of age, beauty, quality and history, & thanks to an extensive contact base, built up over the past 100 years or more, that stretches across the whole world, including collectors, curators, academics and consultants, we have been very fortunate, in that this effort has rewarded us with the ability to offer, what we believe to be, the most comprehensive selection of original ancient and antique samurai swords available for sale in one gallery or online in the world.

We have exported, over the past 100 years, likely tens of thousands of our original samurai weapons, helmets and armour to the four corners of the globe, with clients on all continents. Our swords grace the homes of collectors from literally all walks of life, from Presidents to Postmen, and we have traded with museums of all the major nations. We have always loved and been fascinated by the history of the Samurai, and their iconic weaponry, and we have long admired and envied their past near limitless skill at creating the unparalleled beauty and quality of samurai swords. Universally acknowledged to be likely the very best swords the world has ever seen.

Our Japanese weaponry vary tremendously in age, in fact up to, and sometimes over, an incredible 800 years old, and they are frequently some of the finest examples of specialist workmanship ever achieved by mankind.
We have tried to include, within the holistic description of most items, a brief generic history lesson, for those that have interest, and may wish to know, that will describe the eras, areas and circumstances that these items were used in ancient Japan. We have tried our utmost to be informative, holistic and as interesting as possible without being too academically technical, in order to keep the details vibrant, fascinating and comprehensible, thus not too complex.
We are always delighted to impart any knowledge that we have at our disposal to any curious new collectors when asked. In fact some of the most learned scholars in the world that we have met, and known, some studying the art of nihonto almost all of their adult lives, often admitted to us they were only scratching the surface of the knowledge to be learnt in this extraordinary field, so there is much to constantly uncover about the stories of the samurai and their legendary weaponry covering around 1000 years of Japanese history.

Please enjoy, with our compliments, our Japanese Gallery. It has been decades in the creation, and we intend it to remain as interesting and informative as possible, and, hopefully, for another century to come"..


Mark Hawkins
Partner
The Lanes Armoury

Did you know? the most valuable sword in the world today is a samurai sword, it belongs to an investment fund and has appeared illustrated in the Forbes 400 magazine. It is valued by them at $100 million, it is a tachi from the late Koto period 16th century and unsigned. Its blade is grey and now has no original polish remaining.  read more

Code: 22187

A Beautiful Shinto Katana By Kaga Kiyomitsu With NTHK Kanteisho Papers

With super original Edo period koshirae mounts and fittings. Higo fuchigashira with pure gold onlay with a war fan and kanji seal stamp. Shakudo menuki under the hilt wrap of samurai warriors fighting with swords and polearm. Iron plate o-sukashi tsuba, black lacquer saya with buffalo horn kurigata. Superb hamon and polish with just a few aged surface stains see photo 7

The Hamon is the pattern we see on the edge of the blade of any Nihonto (日本刀) and it is not merely aesthetic, but is due to the differential tempering with clay applied to weapons in the forging process. Japanese katanas are unique in the way of the forging process, where apart from the materials the system is tremendously laborious. In short, before temper, the steel has different clays applied that when submerged in water causing the characteristic blade curvature and the pattern of the hamon. This also causes the katanas to be flexible and can be very sharp, since the hardening of the steels at different temperatures causes a part of the sword to be softer and more flexible called Mune or loin and the other harder and brittle, thus having a High quality cutting edge capable of making precise and lethal cuts.
There are various types and variants, some simple and others very complex. Depending on how the clay is applied, it will form some patterns or others.

According to legend, Amakuni Yasutsuna developed the process of differential hardening of the blades around the 8th century. The emperor was returning from battle with his soldiers when Yasutsuna noticed that half of the swords were broken:
Amakuni and his son, Amakura, picked up the broken blades and examined them. They were determined to create a sword that will not break in combat and they were locked up in seclusion for 30 days. When they reappeared, they took the curved blade with them. The following spring there was another war. Again the soldiers returned, only this time all the swords were intact and the emperor smiled at Amakuni.
Although it is impossible to determine who invented the technique, surviving blades from Yasutsuna around AD 749–811 suggest that, at the very least, Yasutsuna helped establish the tradition of differentially hardening blades.

By the time Ieyasu Tokugawa unified Japan under his rule at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, only samurai were permitted to wear the sword. 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. We rarely have swords with papers for our swords mostly came to England in the 1870's long before 'papers' were invented, and they have never returned to Japan for inspection and papers to be issued. However, on occasion we acquire swords from latter day collectors that have had swords papered in the past 30 years or so., and this is one of those.  read more

Code: 23597

An Absolute Beauty of a Fine, Koto Period Katana, Signed Bishu Osafune Kiyomitsu & Dated 1573

A very good Koto period sword, with a beautiful polished blade. Two stage black lacquer saya with two tone counter striping at the top section and ishime stone matt lacquer at the bottom, it has an iron Higo style kojiri [bottom chape] inlaid with gold. The fuchigashira are shakudo copper with a nanako ground decorated with takebori carved ponies in pure gold, with bocage of a Japanese white pine tree above the pony on the kashira. The tsuba is a Kinai school sukashi round tsuba, in the form of an aoi, or hollyhock plant heightened with gold inlays, including Arabesque scrolls, and leaves. the tsuba came from likely a branch of the Miochin (Group IV), this family was founded by Ishikawa Kinai, who moved from Kyoto to Echizen province and died in 1680. The succeeding masters, however, bore the surname of Takahashi. All sign only Kinai [Japanese text], with differences in the characters used and in the manner of writing them.

The Kinai made guards only, of hard and well forged iron usually coated with the black magnetic oxide. They confined themselves to pierced relief showing extraordinary cleanness both of design and execution. Any considerable heightening of gold is found as a rule only in later work. Dragons in the round appear first in guards by the third master, fishes, birds, etc., in those of the fifth; while designs of autumn flowers and the like come still later. There are examples of Kinai tsuba in the Ashmolean and the British Museum. Made around to decades before but certainly used in the time of the greatest battle in samurai history "The Battle of Sekigahara" [Sekigahara no Tatakai] was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. Initially, Tokugawa's eastern army had 75,000 men, while Ishida's western army numbered 120,000. Tokugawa had also sneaked in a supply of arquebuses. Knowing that Tokugawa was heading towards Osaka, Ishida decided to abandon his positions and marched to Sekigahara. Even though the Western forces had tremendous tactical advantages, Tokugawa had already been in contact with many daimyo in the Western Army for months, promising them land and leniency after the battle should they switch sides.

Tokugawa's forces started the battle when Fukushima Masanori, the leader of the advance guard, charged north from Tokugawa's left flank along the Fuji River against the Western Army's right centre. The ground was still muddy from the previous day's rain, so the conflict there devolved into something more primal. Tokugawa then ordered attacks from his right and his centre against the Western Army's left in order to support Fukushima's attack.

This left the Western Army's centre unscathed, so Ishida ordered this unit under the command of Shimazu Yoshihiro to reinforce his right flank. Shimazu refused as daimyos of the day only listened to respected commanders, which Ishida was not.

Recent scholarship by Professor Yoshiji Yamasaki of Toho University has indicated that the Mori faction had reached a secret agreement with the Tokugawa two weeks earlier, pledging neutrality at the decisive battle in exchange for a guarantee of territorial preservation, and was a strategic decision on Mori Terumoto's part that later backfired.

Fukushima's attack was slowly gaining ground, but this came at the cost of exposing their flank to attack from across the Fuji River by Otani Yoshitsugu, who took advantage of this opportunity. Just past Otani's forces were those of Kobayakawa Hideaki on Mount Matsuo.

Kobayakawa was one of the daimyos that had been courted by Tokugawa. Even though he had agreed to defect to Tokugawa's side, in the actual battle he was hesitant and remained neutral. As the battle grew more intense, Tokugawa finally ordered arquebuses to fire at Kobayakawa's position on Mount Matsuo to force Kobayakawa to make his choice. At that point Kobayakawa joined the battle as a member of the Eastern Army. His forces charged Otani's position, which did not end well for Kobayakawa. Otani's forces had dry gunpowder, so they opened fire on the turncoats, making the charge of 16,000 men mostly ineffective. However, he was already engaging forces under the command of Todo Takatora, Kyogoku Takatsugu, and Oda Yuraku when Kobayakawa charged. At this point, the buffer Otani established was outnumbered. Seeing this, Western Army generals Wakisaka Yasuharu, Ogawa Suketada, Akaza Naoyasu, and Kutsuki Mototsuna switched sides. The blade is showing a very small, combat, sword to sword, thrust from a blade tip, or, possibly a deflected arrow impact, this tiny wound so to speak should never be polished away, this is known as a most honourable battle scar, and certainly no detriment to the blade, and that likely saved the owner of the swords life in a hand to hand combat situation. See close up photo 9 in the gallery, tiny impact of around 1mm with slight bruising below over a maximum total length 5mm, max impact depth around 1mm]  read more

Code: 23305

A Great Opportunity To Acquire A Most Beautiful & Stunning 4th/9th Ghurkha, 16th Brigade, 'Chindit' Officer's Japanese Combat War Trophy. A Japanese Officer's Shingunto Sword, Signed by Kanenori, and Dated 1944.

Signed Kanenori dated 'a lucky day in the 18th Year of Showa {1944 }. Possibly the gendaito smith Noshu Seki Jyu Kanenori(濃州関住兼則)

Only the old worn shingunto leather covered wooden saya scabbard of the sword's original WW2 mounts now remain, and will accompany this fabulous sword blade. This is a Chindit officer's war trophy, and not a surrendered sword. Apparently the Japanese officer was not granted the opportunity in order to surrender his sword, it was taken from him.

Born in the 40th year of the Meiji era (1907) in Seki city, Gifu prefecture, Noshu Seki Jyu Kanenori(濃州関住兼則) was a younger brother of Kojima Kanemichi, one of the most famous swordsmiths in modern times.
Kanenori belonged to the company called Seki Kyoshinsha run by his brother Kanemichi during World War Ⅱ.

Well, this sword had without doubt seen considerable hand to hand jungle combat action. All of the wrap mounts and leather combat cover simply rotted away in the Jungle.

However, the very grey blade was sent by the previous owner to be completely cleaned and polished, and it had been returned to him looking in fabulous condition, then sold to us and now offered here for sale. It could be remounted in a bespoke hand made shirasaya {made by us} or refitted in mounts of choice. Type 98 shingunto possibly or even traditional style.

A problem faced by all the British and Ghurkha Chindits, and Japanese soldiers alike. Leather from uniforms and equipment covers could rot in a matter of months, uniforms would simply fall to pieces, and there are numerous photographs taken of jungle warfare soldiers mid campaign where their uniforms, boots and kit simply fell off their bones. Exactly as it was for Allied POWs in Japanese prison camps in Japanese occupied territories, eventually they were reduced to being naked, having no clothes at all but a simple loin cloth.

Ideal piece of combined Imperial Japanese and WW2 'Chindit', history, perfect to remount in a bespoke, handmade shira saya, or, traditionally as required. We do still have its near complete shingunto leather bound scabbard

Th 4th/9th Ghurkha Rifles were part of 16th Brigade in 1944. On 5 February 1944, Fergusson's 16th Brigade left Ledo for Burma. They avoided Japanese forces by traversing exceptionally difficult terrain. The rest of the Brigades were brought in by air to create fortified bases with airstrips.

600 sorties by Dakota transport aircraft transferred 9,000 men to the landing zones. Chowringhee was abandoned once the fly-in was completed, but Broadway was held with a garrison which included field artillery, anti-aircraft guns and even a detachment of six Mk.VIII Spitfires of No.81 Squadron RAF from 12 March to 17 March. On 17 March they were attacked during take-off by Japanese Ki-43 'Oscars'. S/L William 'Babe' Whitamore and F/O Alan M Peart managed to get airborne, with both shooting down one 'Oscar' each. Whitamore was shot down and killed but Peart survived for over half an hour, holding off over 20 enemy fighters. The remaining Spitfires were destroyed on the ground for the loss of another pilot, F/Lt Coulter. Peart flew back to Kangla the same day in his damaged Spitfire (FL-E JF818) and reported the action.28 The detachment was duly ended by AFC Stanley Vincent, the CO of No. 221 Group.27

Fergusson's brigade set up another base named Aberdeen north of Indaw, into which 14th Brigade was flown. Calvert's brigade established yet another, named White City at Mawlu, astride the main railway and road leading to the Japanese northern front. 111 Brigade set up ambushes and roadblocks south of Indaw (although part of the brigade which landed at Chowringhee was delayed in crossing the Irrawaddy River), before moving west to Pinlebu.

Ferocious jungle fighting ensued around Broadway and White City {all the Chindit bases had British city region names}. At times, British and Japanese troops were in close combat, bayonets and kukris against katanas. On 27 March, after days of aircraft attack, the Japanese attacked Broadway for several nights before the attack was repulsed with flown-in artillery and the aid of locally recruited Kachin irregulars.

The deprivations of the Burma campaign were horrifying for all sides. This is just one account in Burma. Several British soldiers said that the crocodiles preyed on the Japanese soldiers in the swamp. The most prominent firsthand retelling of what happened comes from naturalist Bruce Stanley Wright, who participated in the Battle of Ramree Island and gave this written account:

“That night of Feb. 19, 1945 was the most horrible that any member of the M.L. motor launch crews ever experienced. The crocodiles, alerted by the din of warfare and smell of blood, gathered among the mangroves, lying with their eyes above the water, watchfully alert for their next meal. With the ebb of the tide, the crocodiles moved in on the dead, wounded, and uninjured men who had become mired in the mud…

The scattered rifle shots in the pitch black swamp punctured by the screams of the wounded men crushed in the jaws of huge reptiles, and the blurred worrying sound of spinning crocodiles made a cacophony of hell that has rarely been duplicated on Earth. At dawn, the vultures arrived to clean up what the crocodiles had left.” — Bruce Stanley Wright

The giant lizards had a feast of their lives as nearly 1,000 terrified soldiers dripped blood and sweat into the crowded confines of the Ramree mangrove swamp.

Around 500 Japanese soldiers are believed to have fled the mangrove swamps, with 20 of them being recaptured by British forces who had set up a perimeter around the dense jungle. Around 500 of the fleeing men, however, never made it out of the swamp.

Survivors are said to have heard harrowing stories of hundreds of crocodiles assaulting the soldiers in a mass assault, as well as appalling tales of crocodiles attacking the soldiers individually.

Photo 6 in the gallery shows an example of one of our museum grade handmade & bespoke sword storage and display mounts, a shira saya. Every blade in traditional times, including those now in museums, would have such a set of mounts. This is what we could make for the blade if required, cost around £350.

One side of the blade three inches from the tip has a small area of tiny pin prick marks .


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 trading  read more

Code: 25390

A Very Attractive & Good Edo Period Antique Nanban Tsuba in Tetsu and Applied Gold

The style of decoration that involves a mass of tendrils occupied by dragons, with elongated oval seppa dai decorated with waves or bars and the like. Unusually the pierced design travels around the edge as well, a very nice sign of extra fine quality workmanship, and beautiful undercutting.

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.  read more

Code: 24581

The Lanes Armoury, As Well As Being Referred To As Britain’s Favourite Antique Store, After Being Family Traders For Four Generations Over 100 Years, We Are Europe’s Leading Original Samurai Sword Specialists

We are the leading and pre-eminent original samurai sword specialists in the whole of Europe, in fact we know of no other specialists outside of Japan, and likely within it, that stock anywhere near the quantity of our selection. Constantly striving to achieve the very best for all our clients from around the world, our solution demanded a holistic approach and a strategic vision of what can be achieved. A solution that has effectively taken over 100 years in the making, and thus in order to be improved upon, it is evolving, constantly. However, never forgetting our old fashioned values of a personal, one to one service, dedicated for the benefit of our customers.

We even had the enormous privilege, to own and sell, although, sadly, only very briefly, thanks to the kind assistance of the most highly esteemed Japanese sword expert in England, Victor Harris, an incredibly rare and unique sword, an original, Edo period, traditionally hand made representation copy of the most famous Japanese sword in world history, the Japanese National Treasure, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (草薙の剣). It is a legendary Japanese sword and one of three Imperial Regalia of Japan. It was originally called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (天叢雲剣, "Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds"), but its name was later changed to the more popular Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("Grass-Cutting Sword"). In folklore, the sword represents the virtue of valour. Victor stated it was the only example he had ever seen, possibly an official Imperial commission, to create a faithful, identical copy of the most treasured sword ever made in Japan’s history. A sword used in the coronation of the Emperor, yet even the emperor is not permitted to see it, only to place his hand upon it under a ceremonial silk cloth.
Our one time advisor, Victor Harris, was Curator, Assistant Keeper and then Keeper (1998-2003) of the Department of Japanese Antiquities, at the British Museum. Studied 1968-71 under Sato Kenzan, Tokyo National Museum and Society for the Preservation of Japanese Swords. We fondly remember many brainstorming sessions on our Japanese swords with Victor and our late colleague, Chris Fox, here in our store .

After well over 50 years personal experience as a professional dealer by Mark, since 1971, and David’s over 40 years, we are now recognised as Europe’s leading samurai sword specialists, with hundreds of swords to view and buy online 24/7, or, within our store, on a personal visit, 6 days a week. In fact we know of no better and varied original samurai sword selection for sale under one roof outside of Japan, or probably, even within it. Hundreds of original pieces up to 800 years old. Whether we are selling to our clients representing museums around the globe, the world’s leading collectors, or simply a first time buyer, we offer our advice and guidance in order to assist the next custodian of a fine historical Japanese sword, to make the very best and entirely holistic choice combination, of a sword and it’s fittings.

But that of course is just one small part of the story and history of The Lanes Armoury, and the Hawkins brothers, as the world famous arms armour, militaria & book merchants

Both of the partners of the company have spent literally all of their lives surrounded by objects of history, trained, almost since birth in the arts, antiques and militaria. Supervised and mentored, first by their grandfathers, then their father, who left the RAF sometime after the war, to become one of the leading antique exporters and dealers in the entire world. Selling, around the globe, through our network of numerous shops, warehouses, and antique export companies, in today’s equivalent, hundreds of millions of pounds of our antiques and works of art.

Both Mark and David were incredibly fortunate to be mentored by some of the world’s leading experts within their fields of antiques and militaria. For example, just to mention two of Mark’s diverse mentors, one was Edward ‘Ted’ Dale, who was one of Britains most highly respected and leading experts on antiques, he was chief auctioneer and managing director in the 1960’s and 70’s of Bonham’s Auctioneers of London, now one of the worlds highest ranked auction companies, and at the other end of the spectrum, there was Bill ‘Yorkie’ Cole, the company’s ‘keeper of horse’, who revelled in the title of the company’s ‘head stable boy’, right up until his 90’s, in fact he refused to retire, he simply ‘faded away’. He controlled our stables and dozens of horse drawn vehicles up to the 1970’s. He was a true Brighton character, whose experiences in the antique trade went way back to WW1, and, amongst other skills, he taught young Mark, as a teenager in the 1960’s, to drive a horse drawn pantechnicon with ‘Dolly’, Britain’s last surviving English dray horse that was trained for night driving in the ‘blackout’ during the blitz. See a photo of the company pantechnicon and 'Dolly' in the gallery

Mark has been a director and partner in the family businesses since 1971, specialising in elements of the family business that varied from the acquisition and export of vintage cars, mostly Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Aston Martins and Lagondas, to America, to the complete restoration and furnishing of a historical Sussex Georgian country Manor House for his late mother from the ground up, but long before that he was handling and buying swords and flintlocks since he was just seven years old, obviously in a very limited way though, naturally.

David jnr, Mark’s younger brother, also started collecting militaria when he was seven, in fact he became the youngest firearms dealer licence holder in the country, and it was he that convinced Mark that concentrating on militaria and rare books was the future for our world within the antique trade, and as you will by now guess, history, antiques, books and militaria are simply in their blood.

Thus, around 40 years ago, they decided to sell their export business and concentrate where their true hearts lie, in the world of military history and its artefacts, from antiquity to the 20th century. From fine and rare books and first editions, to antiquities and the greatest historical and beautiful samurai swords to be found. One photo in the gallery was one of the rarest books we have ever had, some years ago, a Great Gatsby Ist edition they can now command up to $360,000

One photo in the gallery is of Mark, some few years ago with his then new lockdown companion at the farm, ‘Cody’, named after Buffalo Bill naturally. Cody is now somewhat bigger! .Another photo is of two of our ten company trucks photographed just after their delivery from the signwriters. As you can see we always enjoyed a very old fashioned British tradition of having our vehicles fully liveried, hand sign written and artistically painted by our local and very talented artisans. Vehicles that ranged from our many horse drawn vehicles, to our 1930’s Bedford generator lorry that doubled up during WW2 as a mobile searchlight for the local anti-aircraft artillery installations, and then to our more modern fleet from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. The green liveried Leyland truck in the photograph was hand painted with a massive representation of the scene of the chariot race from Chuck Heston’s movie spectacular Ben Hur, and on the other side a huge copy of Lady Butler’s Charge of the Heavy Brigade. Each painting took over three months to complete. When we called Chuck in America to show him the completed livery, painted in his honour, he was delighted and very impressed and promised to visit us again to see it personally in all its glory, sadly his filming schedules for his 1970’s blockbuster disaster movies such as ‘Earthquake’ prevented it. Chuck was recommended to us years before by one of his co-stars in Solyent Green, one of Hollywood’s true greats, {alongside Chuck} Edward G. Robinson, who used to buy, undervalued {then}, impressionist paintings from David snr in the 1960’s.  read more

Code: 24364

A Superb Pair of Red Lacquer Over Steel Abumi, Samurai Stirrups, Edo Period Used by Daimyo or Seieibushi (Elite Samurai) Traditionally the Highest Rank of Elite Samurai of The Sakai Clan,

Simply stunning pieces of antique samurai armour, perfect for the collector of samurai swords, armour and artifacts, or simply as fabulous object d'art, they would be spectacular decorative pieces in any setting, albeit to compliment contemporary minimalistic or fine antique decor of any period, oriental or European.

Decorated at the front with a beautiful kamon samurai clan crest of the renown samurai 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.

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

During the Japanese civil wars (1467-1568), red was revered by the samurai and worn as a symbol of strength and power in battle, in ancient times it was a lacquer called sekishitsu (a mixture of cinnabar and lacquer). For example it was the trademark colour of the armour of the Li clan, the so called Red Devil’s. In the Battle of Komaki Nagakute, fought in 1584, Ii Naomasa's clan fronted 3,000 matchlock gunmen, his front line forces up wearing what would become the clan’s trademark, bright red lacquered armour, with high horn-like helmet crests. Their fearsome fighting skills with the gun and long-spear, and their red armour had them become known as Ii’s Red Devils. He fought so well at Nagakute, that he was highly praised by Toyotomi Hideyoshi leader of the opposition! Ii Naomasa was known as one of the Four Guardians of the Tokugawa.

Also the similar clan mon of the Chōsokabe clan (長 宗 我 部 氏Chōsokabe-shi ), Also known as Chōsokame (長 曾 我 部 、 長 宗 我 部 ) , Was a Japanese clan from the island of Shikoku . Over time, they were known to serve the Hosokawa clan then the Miyoshi clan, and then the Ichijō clan although they were later liberated and came to dominate the entire island, before being defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi . The clan claimed to be descendants of Qin Shi Huang (d. 210 BC), the first emperor of a unified China .

The clan is associated with the province of Tosa in present-day Kōchi prefecture on the island of Shikoku . Chōsokabe Motochika , who unified Shikoku, was the first twenty daimyo (or head) of the clan.

In the beginning of the Sengoku period , Chōsokabe Kunichika's father, Kanetsugu, was assassinated by the Motoyama clan in 1508. Therefore, Kunichika was raised by the aristocrat Ichijō Husaie of the Ichijō clan in Tosa province. Later, towards the end of his life, Kunichika avenged the Motoyama clan and destroyed with the help of Ichijō in 1560. Kunichika have children, including his heir and future daimyo of Chosokabe, Motochika, who continue unifying Shikoku.

First, the Ichijō family was overthrown by Motochika in 1574. Later, he gained control of the rest of Tosa due to his victory at the Battle of Watarigawa in 1575. Then he also destroyed the Kono clan and the Soga clan . Over the next decade, he extended his power to all of Shikoku in 1583. However, in 1585, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ( Oda Nobunaga's successor ) invaded the island with a force of 100,000 men, led by Ukita Hideie , Kobayakawa Takakage , Kikkawa Motonaga , Toyotomi Hidenaga and Toyotomi Hidetsugu . Motochika surrendered and lost the Awa provinces, Sanuki and Iyo ; Hideyoshi allowed him to retain Tosa. The smiths name Motochika was linked to the clan itself. The last picture In the gallery is of samurai Chōsokabe Morichika, ruler of Tosa province. His clan mon, that appears on the abumi and on the tanto on the habaki, can be seen on the collar of his garb, As ruler of Tosa Province, in 1614 he went to join the defenders of Osaka Castle against the Tokugawa, he arriving there the same day as Sanada Yukimura. His Chōsokabe contingent fought very well in both the Winter and Summer at Osaka Campaigns. After the fall of Osaka, Morichika attempted to flee but was apprehended at Hachiman-yama by Hachisuka men, He and his sons were beheaded on May 11, 1615, following the defeat of the Toyotomi and Chōsokabe forces at the Battle of Tennōji. We acquired these abumi with tanto of the 1390's of the same clan, but sold separately.

These abumi are in superb condition for their age, certainly showing signs of use on horseback, but these slight wear marks etc. perfectly compliment their provenance for display.  read more

Code: 23472

An Edo Period, 1603 - 1868, Samurai Horseman’s Ryo-Shinogi Yari Polearm

With original pole and iron foot mount ishizuki. Very nicely polished 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. The pole has has the top lacquer section relacquered in the past 50 years or so.  read more

Code: 20518

A Very Attractive, Edo Era 17th to 18th Century Samurai's Tetsu Abumi Stirrup, Inlaid With Silver in a Geometric Pattern

This Japanese stirrup, is made in the traditional dove's breast (hato mune) shape with an open platform lined slightly curved forward so that the foot fits in without sliding backwards. In the front extremity the stirrup has a rectangular buckle with several horizontal slots which also serve as a handle.
The whole surface is in ancient russetted iron in the distinctive Higo school style, with a large onlaid decorative mount of a bird and various flora.

It is to be noted that these stirrups, due to their weight, were also used as weapons against the infantry adversaries. Abumi, Japanese stirrups, were used in Japan as early as the 5th century, and were a necessary component along with the Japanese saddle (kura) for the use of horses in warfare. Abumi became the type of stirrup used by the samurai class of feudal Japan Early abumi were flat-bottomed rings of metal-covered wood, similar to European stirrups. The earliest known examples were excavated from tombs. Cup-shaped stirrups (tsubo abumi) that enclosed the front half of the rider's foot eventually replaced the earlier design.

During the Nara period, the base of the stirrup which supported the rider's sole was elongated past the toe cup. This half-tongued style of stirrup (hanshita abumi) remained in use until the late Heian period (794 to 1185) when a new stirrup was developed. The fukuro abumi or musashi abumi had a base that extended the full length of the rider's foot and the right and left sides of the toe cup were removed. The open sides were designed to prevent the rider from catching a foot in the stirrup and being dragged.

The military version of this open-sided stirrup, called the shitanaga abumi, was in use by the middle Heian period. It was thinner, had a deeper toe pocket and an even longer and flatter foot shelf. It is not known why the Japanese developed this unique style of stirrup, but this stirrup stayed in use until European style-stirrups were introduced in the late 19th century. The abumi has a distinctive swan-like shape, curved up and backward at the front so as to bring the loop for the leather strap over the instep and achieve a correct balance. Most of the surviving specimens from this period are made entirely of iron, inlaid with designs of silver or other materials, and covered with lacquer. In some cases, there is an iron rod from the loop to the footplate near the heel to prevent the foot from slipping out. The footplates are occasionally perforated to let out water when crossing rivers, and these types are called suiba abumi. There are also abumi with holes in the front forming sockets for a lance or banner. Seieibushi (Elite Samurai)
Traditionally the highest rank among the samurai, these are highly skilled fully-fledged samurai. Most samurai at the level of Seieibushi take on apprentices or Aonisaibushi-samurai as their disciples.

Kodenbushi (Legendary Samurai)
A highly coveted rank, and often seen as the highest attainable position, with the sole exception of the rank of Shogun. These are samurai of tremendous capability, and are regarded as being of Shogun-level. Kodenbushi are hired to accomplish some of the most dangerous international missions. Samurai of Kodenbushi rank are extremely rare, and there are no more than four in any given country.

Daimyo (Lords)
This title translates to 'Big Name' and is given to the heads of the clan.

Shogun (Military Dictator)
The apex of the samurai, the Shogun is the most prestigious rank possible for a samurai. Shoguns are the leaders of their given district, or country, and are regarded as the most powerful samurai.  read more

Code: 25320

An Edo Tettsu Krishitan {Christian} Tsuba Of Twin Symbols of The Rope And The Cross. In Superb Condition & Traditionally Boxed For Display. From A Very Fine Collection Of Beautiful Antique Tsuba

This beautiful iron tsuba, contains the hidden Edo period Christian symbols of the rope and the cross, and it serves as both a reminder to the violence and to the subsequent hiddenness that came out of the Japanese convert Christians’ suffering. The rope was symbol of obedience - the symbol of an untied rope.
It may be that the design of the tsuba confronted the believer to the ambiguity born of a prolonged time of painful secrecy. Surrounded by the threat of violence, even a weapon could bear a hidden symbol of Christianity—the cross.

The Hidden Christians quieted their public expressions and practices of faith in the hope of survival from the great purge. They also suffered unspeakably if captured and failed to renounce their Christian beliefs.

In Silence, Endo depicts the trauma of Rodrigues’ journey into Japan through his early encounter with an abandoned and destroyed Christian village. Rodrigues expresses his distress over the suffering of Japanese Christians and he reports the “deadly silence.”

‘I will not say it was a scene of empty desolation. Rather was it as though a battle had recently devastated the whole district. Strewn all over the roads were broken plates and cups, while the doors were broken down so that all the houses lay open . . . The only thing that kept repeating itself quietly in my mind was: Why this? Why? I walked the village from corner to corner in the deadly silence.

...Somewhere or other there must be Christians secretly living their life of faith as these people had been doing . . . I would look for them and find out what had happened here; and after that I would determine what ought to be done.”

- Silence, Shusaku Endo

The current FX series 'Shogun' by Robert Clavell is based on the true story of William Adams and the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyesu, and apart from being one of the very best film series yet made, it shows superbly and relatively accurately the machinations of the Catholic Jesuits to manipulate the Japanese Regents and their Christian convert samurai Lords.

Oda Nobunaga (1534–82) had taken his first step toward uniting Japan as the first missionaries landed, and as his power increased he encouraged the growing Kirishitan movement as a means of subverting the great political strength of Buddhism. Oppressed peasants welcomed the gospel of salvation, but merchants and trade-conscious daimyos saw Christianity as an important link with valuable European trade. Oda’s successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–98), was much cooler toward the alien religion. The Japanese were becoming aware of competition between the Jesuits and the Franciscans and between Spanish and Portuguese trading interests. Toyotomi questioned the reliability of subjects with some allegiance to the foreign power at the Vatican. In 1587 he ordered all foreign missionaries to leave Japan but did not enforce the edict harshly until a decade later, when nine missionaries and 17 native Kirishitan were martyred.

After Toyotomi’s death and the brief regency of his adopted child, the pressures relaxed. However, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the great Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867), gradually came to see the foreign missionaries as a threat to political stability. By 1614, through his son and successor, Tokugawa Hidetada, he banned Kirishitan and ordered the missionaries expelled. Severe persecution continued for a generation under his son and grandson. Kirishitan were required to renounce their faith on pain of exile or torture. Every family was required to belong to a Buddhist temple, and periodic reports on them were expected from the temple priests.

By 1650 all known Kirishitan had been exiled or executed. Undetected survivors were driven underground into a secret movement that came to be known as Kakure Kirishitan (“Hidden Christians”), existing mainly in western Kyushu island around Nagasaki and Shimabara. To avoid detection they were obliged to practice deceptions such as using images of the Virgin Mary disguised as the popular and merciful Bōsatsu (bodhisattva) Kannon, whose gender is ambiguous and whom carvers often render as female.

The populace at large remained unaware that the Kakure Kirishitan managed to survive for two centuries, and when the prohibition against Roman Catholics began to ease again in the mid-19th century, arriving European priests were told there were no Japanese Christians left. A Roman Catholic church set up in Nagasaki in 1865 was dedicated to the 26 martyrs of 1597, and within the year 20,000 Kakure Kirishitan dropped their disguise and openly professed their Christian faith. They faced some repression during the waning years of the Tokugawa shogunate, but early in the reforms of the emperor Meiji (reigned 1867–1912) the Kirishitan won the right to declare their faith and worship publicly.

Two images in the gallery are drawings of bronze fumi-e in use during the 1660s in Japan, during the time of the persecution. Each of these drawings mirrors actual brass fumi-e portraying Stations of the Cross, which are held in the collections of the Tokyo National Museum.  read more

Code: 25310