Japanese
**The All New August 1st, UK Ninja Sword Ban 2025***. We Have Not, Nor Ever Have Sold Such Swords. So, All and Every Antique & Vintage Samurai Sword Well Sell, or Have Sold In The Past, Are Completed Unaffected
We have never sold fantasy, modern, Ninja type weapons in any way, so nothing we offer for sale, or have ever sold, is effected by the current legislation. We only sell completely original samurai collectors items, many of incredible rarity, which are entire legitimate to own and collect.
Technically and historically, there was never any such thing, as a so-called 'ninja sword', of the type sold frequently online. They have been an invention of the entertainment industry since WW2. read more
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A Fine Kugyō Daisho, Koto to Early Shinto Era, Of A Daito & Shoto. Daito Signed Bishu ju Munemitsu. Shoto Signed Fujiwara Rai Kinmichi Yamashiro. This Daisho Is One Of The Most Beautiful Pairs Of Original Edo Period Fitted Samurai Swords We Have Seen
A fabulous daisho likely of the highest ranks of the samurai nobility of ancient and feudal times, they held the highest status of samurai in Japan and the rank of Kugyō. The samurai lords and controllers the Shogun’s court of the bakufu, only ranking below the shogun himself
The blades and saya have now returned from no expense spared *museum grade conservation, so we show them now after it has been completed. The perfectly colour matching brown and gold silk sageo tied around the daito saya, that we have been saving for just such a deserving sword as this, after we acquired it from Victor Harris decades ago, looks absolutely incredible.
The Daito {long sword} bears the signature: Bishu ju Munemitsu, Bizen Province, Late Mihara school, circa 1575, Gunome hamon Masame hada
The Shoto {short sword} is signed: Fujiwara Rai Kinmichi, Yamashiro School, {circa 1624}, Sudareba hamon, Masame hada. A beautiful suite of daisho fuchgashira of takebori insects and catydids in gold and shakudo, and a pair of fabulous iron plate maru-gata tettsu tsuba inlaid with takebori flower heads in soft metals. The most fine kozuka, is in gold and shakudo takebori, decorated with shishi {lion dogs}, over a nanako ground, is signed, and its steel blade, kozukatana is also signed
The daisho have finest original Edo saya, of urushi lacquer decorated with kamon of multiple clans, this suggests affiliations and allegiance to those clans, and they are multiples of mon applied, on a ground of gold-nashiji, of gold-ikakeji. This form of highest superior work was restricted, in feudal times, to san mi 三位, samurai owners, of the third court-rank, or possibly even higher, such as 一位, Ichii, First rank, or, 二位, Nii, second rank. These samurai nobles of the third to higher ranks were called kugyō when these two swords was made and carried in the early Edo period of the Tokugawa shogunate.
First Rank (一位, Ichii): The highest court rank, reserved for individuals of exceptional merit and influence.
Second Rank (二位, Nii): A higher rank, often associated with those in positions of authority.
Third Rank (三位, Sanmi) and Fourth Rank (四位, Shii): These ranks denoted important positions in the court system
In feudal Japan, court ranks, known as mibun, were a hierarchical system defining the status and duties of individuals, particularly within the samurai class. These ranks influenced everything from a samurai's attire and position to their ability to request audiences with the Shogun. The system was a complex tapestry of colors, symbols, and titles, signifying one's place in the social order.
In the Tokugawa shogunate each of the First to Third Ranks is divided into Senior (正, shō) and Junior (従, ju). The Senior First Rank (正一位, shō ichi-i) is the highest in the rank system. It is conferred mainly on a very limited number of persons recognized by the Imperial Court as most loyal to the nation during that era.
The Junior First Rank (従一位, ju ichi-i) is the second highest rank, conferred in many cases on the highest ministers, premier feudal lords, and their wives.
Nobles with the Third Rank or upper were called kugyō.
Successive Tokugawa shoguns held the highest or near-highest court ranks, higher than most court nobles. They were made Shō ni-i (正二位, Senior Second Rank) of court rank upon assuming office, then Ju ichi-i (従一位, Junior First Rank), and the highest rank of Shō ichi-i (正一位, Senior First Rank) was conferred upon them upon their death. The Tokugawa shogunate established that the court ranks granted to daimyo by the imperial court were based on the recommendation of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the court ranks were used to control the daimyo.
Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were Shō ni-i (正二位, Senior Second Rank) and Ju ichi-i (従一位, Junior First Rank) respectively, but both were elevated to Shō ichi-i (正一位, Senior First Rank) in the Taisho era, about 300 years after their deaths.
The no expense spared museum grade conservation including blade polish conservation and cleaning, has yielded fabulous results. We undertook it for two specific reasons, firstly, it deserves to be returned to as close to its original condition as possible, yet, still showing it age, and, externally regarding the tsuka-ito and urushi lacquer, showing all its natural wear, and secondly, to honour its previous owner, who, for several decades, was a seasoned practitioner of the Japanese martial art forms {not using these swords of course}, and he was a friend of many in the Japanese nihonto world, such as Victor Harris, former Curator of Japanese swords at the British Museum. It has thus been undertaken with immense care. For example all the original urushi nashiji lacquer is being left, just, ‘as is’ after it has been hand cleaned and conserved, in order to show all its natural beauty, quality yet natural aging, with its colour somewhat darkening from the past few hundred years.
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.
THE LANES ARMOURY, THE PREMIER HOME OF ORIGINAL AND AFFORDABLE ANCIENT ANTIQUITIES & MILITARY ANTIQUE COLLECTABLES IN BRITAIN.
The Lanes Armoury, is world renown as Britain's favourite specialist collectors shop, and also a font of historical and educational information that is detailed with every single item. We detail each piece alongside its historical context, either generic or specific, for those that may wish to read, learn, or be informed, as opposed to simply acquire collectable items. We are probably one of the oldest companies of our kind in the whole of Europe and we have been established through generations, as specialists in armoury, military antiques, militaria collectables, and specialist books, since the early 1900’s, and thus we have continued to be one of the largest in the world today. The current partners were set on this path by their great grandfather
We are also very pleased to know we are also studied and read by academics and students from hundreds of universities around the world, by those that are interested in not only British but worldwide history. Of course we are not perfect and errors can and will be made, but thanks to our viewers and visitors, errors can be corrected, and learnt from.
Our sacred principle is that every single country's history ought to be studied, learnt, and passed down to future generations, however good, or even bad, some of it may be. All history is knowledge, be it good, bad, or indifferent.
Everyday we are contacted by historians that wish to make contributions to our detailed information for our pieces, and to thus add to our constant dedication to impart historical knowledge, that may be unknown to many of our millions of viewers.
As once told to us by an esteemed regular visitor to us here in our gallery, in order to view and study our Japanese edged weapons and armour gallery, and the same words that are repeated in his book;
“In these textures lies an extraordinary and unique feature of the sword - the steel itself possesses an intrinsic beauty. The Japanese sword has been appreciated as an art object since its perfection some time during the tenth century AD. Fine swords have been more highly prized than lands or riches, those of superior quality being handed down from generation to generation. In fact, many well-documented swords, whose blades are signed by their makers, survive from nearly a thousand years ago. Recognizable features of the blades of hundreds of schools of sword-making have been punctiliously recorded, and the study of the sword is a guide to the flow of Japanese history.”
Victor Harris
Curator, Assistant Keeper and then Keeper (1998-2003) of the Department of Japanese Antiquities at the British Museum. He studied from 1968-71 under Sato Kenzan, Tokyo National Museum and Society for the Preservation of Japanese Swords.
* Museum grade conservation is encouraged for fine and rare artefacts in order to conserve and create pieces as much as is possible without creating an ‘as new’ appearance. It is extremely important to retain as must original patina as possible, and natural aging, so as to beautifully improve their current condition as much as possible, without removing historical context. Such as the great priceless treasures, the Roman Portland vase, and the Anglo Saxon Sutton Hoo helmet, associated with King Rædwald of East Anglia, now both exhibited in the British Museum
The original lacquer saya on the shoto has small areas of line opening near the throat due to its past hundreds of years old wear, yet it is still in a fine condition otherwise. Its hand carved and polished black buffalo horn fittings and kurikata are are now hand repolished and superb throughout the daito saya. This overall museum grade conservation project we have undertaken, involving hundreds of hours of expert attention and skill, we would like to think, is just the kind of result that our friend, Victor Harris, formerly of of the British Museum, would have been proud. read more
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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
8750.00 GBP
A Fine & Most Beautiful Japanese Katana, Signed Mitsuhiro Saku Late Koto to Shinto Period
A very attractive samurai katana, around 400 to 450 years old in a superb colour livery of blue-green tsuka-ito and a two colour saya of brown ishime {stone finish} and bright black urushi ribbed lacquer to the top quarter section, bound with white sageo, and a polished carved buffalo horn kurigata and sayajiri. The blade is signed, Mitsuhiro and shows a beautiful gunome hamon. The pair of menuki are a pair of caught Warasubo spine toothed fish, one with a mouse foraging on the top of its body. The mud flats of Japan’s Ariake Sea are home to a creature that is reportedly as delicious as it is disgusting-looking. Introducing the “Warasubo”, an eel-like xenomorph goby fish that for obvious reasons is known as the “Alien of Ariake Sea”, found in a large bay in Kyushu,
The fuchi kashira tsuka fittings are a pair of Edo period iron Higo school inset with silver droplets either representing a heavenly constellation, or snowflakes falling at night.
Made and 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 ?tani'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, turning the tide of battle
The top section of the blade, near the kissaki has two very small areas of natural age pitting read more
5950.00 GBP
A Stunning and Impressively Powerful Koto Katana, Circa 1500. With All Original Edo Period Koshirae Mountings. A Fabulous Sword of Likely a Seieibushi {the Highest Ranked Elite Samurai} Traditionally the Highest Rank of Elite Samurai
Originally made around 500 years ago for a samurai of considerable size and status befitting a sword of this power and presence. Photos of the blade to add Friday 12th
It bears a beautfully fine Koto blade, around 1500, yet, most rarely it shows it is ubu {unshortened} and it displays a very fine suguha hamon, very much the usual tradition during the Koto period.
Most blades of this age have had some element of shortening, which is entirely usual, and most normal.
Shortening most commonly occurs when a successor to the original katana owner, another samurai, was shorter than his predecessor, and thus so on, and thefore needs the blade slightly shortened {always from the bottom of the nakago under the hilt upwards, even if it’s just by an inch or so}. Very ancient blades can often show evidence of several shortenings, by the presence of numerous mekugi ana interspaced down the tang.
The all original Edo period mounts, fuchi kashira, are Higo style in tetsu, decorated with a takebori cormorant fisherman carrying his catch to market, on the fuchi, and his hanging nets on the kashira. The tsuba, also in finely aged tetsu, tsuchime, with very delicate Amidayasuri filemarks, or carving, representing the halo emanating from Amida Buddha, is very beautiful, impressive and signed, with two, most unusually still present, narrow bars of sinchu bordering the inner kogai hitsu-ana and kozuka hitsu-ana, these are more than often lost .
It appears the mei {signature} on the tsuba is 山吉 or Yamakichi bei who was originally an armour smith from Owari or modern Nagoya area.
The shodai worked around the same time as the first Nobuie (end of Muromachi) and nearly as highly regarded, but this example may well be later. Pale gold tsukaito silk binding over pure gold decorated shakudo menuki on the samegawa {giant rayskin}.
The saya is traditional and original Edo period, brown urushi, ishime style, stone finish lacquer, in very fine condition, and the saya is mounted with a Higo sayajiri depicting a dragon in light takebori tettsu.
When one considers this sword was carried by successive samurai from the British timeline of the Tudor kings, starting with King Henry VIIth, King Henry VIIIth’s father, it is in simply remarkable condition. We doubt of there is a single solitary example of a European sword of this great age, preserved anywhere near as well as this blade, that is appearing almost as new.
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 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."
Samurai were expected to be both fierce warriors and lovers of art, a dichotomy summed up by the Japanese concepts of to stop the spear expanding 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 synthesised 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 may 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.
it has been said that part of their military training, samurai were taught to sleep with their right arm underneath them so if they were attacked in the middle of the night and their the left arm was cut off the could still fight with their right arm. Samurai that tossed and turned at night were cured of the habit by having two knives placed on either side of their pillow.
Samurai have been describes as "the most strictly trained human instruments of war to have existed." They were expected to be proficient in the martial arts of aikido and kendo as well as swordsmanship and archery---the traditional methods of samurai warfare---which were viewed not so much as skills but as art forms that flowed from natural forces that harmonized with nature.
An individual didn't become a full-fledged samurai until he wandered around the countryside as begging pilgrim for a couple of years to learn humility. When this was completed they achieved samurai status and receives a salary from his daimyo paid from taxes (usually rice) raised from the local populace. Swords in Japan have long been symbols of power and honour and seen as works of art. 40 inches long overall, blade tsuba to tip, 28.5 inches read more
9450.00 GBP
A Simply Stunning Edo Period Mighty Samurai Armour and Helmet Piercer Tanto, Around 250 Years Old. An Absolute Beautiful Example of Samurai Sword Artistry & Skill
The blade is utterly amazing, with a great gunome hamon, superb grain in the hada, and powerful blade designed to pierce the strongest kabuto, iron plate war helmet, or even the strongest part of any gosuko armour, being an incredible 8 mm thick at the habaki.
Fully mounted with all its original Edo fuchi kashira decorated with takebori rabbits and reeds. Pure gold and silver rabbits on a shakudo nanako ground, with pure gold reeds. Pure gold menuki of shi shi lion dogs, under original edo black silk tsuka-itol.
It has a kozuka decorated on shakudo and gold of a herd of frolicking ponies . Original Edo period urushi lacquer ishime style, stone finish, lacquer saya with polished carved buffalo horn fittings. The only signs of age wear is on the lacquer saya, with three or four very small surface dings and slight blistering by the mid section on one side. The habaki is superb in shakudo. The tsuba is an iron tetsu oval inlaid with puer gold, with surface decoration of stylized serpent like beasts with gold stars both large and small with a pair of gold fronted seppa.
This would make a fabulous addition to any fine collection of original antique samurai weaponry or armour
Rabbits are one of the signs of the Japanese zodiac. They are considered lucky as the Japanese kanji used to write the word rabbit is similar to the kanji meaning "get rid of " or "make vanish". People believe that rabbits will make bad luck disappear! Rabbits are also known for jumping high. They can leap over nine feet! Rabbits symbolize everything going up in your life - improvement and success.
THE LANES ARMOURY, THE PREMIER HOME OF ORIGINAL AND AFFORDABLE ANCIENT ANTIQUITIES & ANTIQUE COLLECTABLES IN BRITAIN.
The Lanes Armoury, is world renown as Britain's favourite specialist collectors shop, and also a font of historical and educational information that is detailed with every single item. We detail each piece alongside its historical context, either generic or specific, for those that may wish to read, learn, or be informed, as opposed to simply acquire collectable items. We are probably one of the oldest companies of our kind in the whole of Europe and we have been established through generations, as specialists in armoury, military antiques, militaria collectables, and specialist books, since the early 1900’s, and thus we have continued to be one of the largest in the world today. The current partners were set on this path by their great grandfather, who while intrigued by historic antique arms and armour, was woefully under capitalised for his dream profession, so much so that even when starting his very small business, just after the first world war, he still kept up his original working class pre war trade as a scaffolder as his safety net in case his dreams folded. Just as well for his succeeding generations, he didn’t fail. However, true to his very old-fashioned working class ethics, every subsequent generation had to follow their own path, with no financial assistance whatsoever, with his son, grandson and great-grandsons having to make their own way, on their own skill and merits, whatever they may be.
We are also very pleased to know we are also studied and read by academics and students from hundreds of universities around the world, by those that are interested in not only British but worldwide history. Of course we are not perfect and errors can and will be made, but thanks to our viewers and visitors, errors can be corrected, and learnt from.
Our sacred principle is that every single country's history ought to be studied, and passed down, however good, or bad some of it may be. All history is knowledge, good, bad or indifferent.
Everyday we are contacted by historians that wish to make contributions to our detailed information for our pieces, and to thus add to our constant dedication to impart historical knowledge, that may be unknown to many of our millions of viewers.
As once told to us by an esteemed regular visitor to us here in our gallery, in order to view and study our Japanese edged weapons and armour gallery, and the same words that are repeated in his book;
“In these textures lies an extraordinary and unique feature of the sword - the steel itself possesses an intrinsic beauty. The Japanese sword has been appreciated as an art object since its perfection some time during the tenth century AD. Fine swords have been more highly prized than lands or riches, those of superior quality being handed down from generation to generation. In fact, many well-documented swords, whose blades are signed by their makers, survive from nearly a thousand years ago. Recognizable features of the blades of hundreds of schools of sword-making have been punctiliously recorded, and the study of the sword is a guide to the flow of Japanese history.”
Victor Harris
Curator, Assistant Keeper and then Keeper (1998-2003) of the Department of Japanese Antiquities at the British Museum. He studied from 1968-71 under Sato Kenzan, Tokyo National Museum and Society for the Preservation of Japanese Swords
Blade 12 inches long read more
4950.00 GBP
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
495.00 GBP
A Shinto Aikuchi Tanto, Unokubi-Zukuri With Hi Blade & Stunning Bi-Colour Shakudo Fittings Katakiri-bori Carving, on Migaki-ji of Insects, a Cricket a Hornet and a Praying Mantis
Circa 1700. A very attractive Samurai tanto that has lain untouched for likely 140 odd years or more. All matching and most attractive Edo period bi-colour hand carved shakudo fittings katakiri-bori carving, on migaki-ji including a kozuka, engraved with a preying mantis, a wasp on the kashira and a grasshopper on the sayajiri. The menuki are of fine gold overlay of dragon, and the tsuka has imperial off-white silk binding. The blade is in a unokubi-zukuri form similar to naga nata in stunning polish. The original Edo lacquer saya is uniformly ribbed along it's length with age cracking below the kozuka pocket, and small bruises at the base. Very fine hammered silver foil covered habaki.
The tanto is commonly referred to as a knife or dagger. The blade can be single or double edged with a length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches, in Japanese 1 shaku).
The tanto was designed primarily as a stabbing weapon, but the edge can be used for slashing as well. Tanto are generally forged in hira-zukuri style (without ridgeline), meaning that their sides have no ridge line and are nearly flat, unlike the shinogi-zukuri structure of a katana.
Some tanto have particularly thick cross-sections for armour-piercing duty, and are called yoroi toshi. read more
3650.00 GBP
A Stunning, Fearsome Yet Beautiful, Edo Period Shirohige Ressei-Menpo "Mask With Fierce Expression" Samurai Face Armour,, Probably Myochin School, 18th century
Men-yoroi (面鎧), also called menpō (面頬) or mengu (面具), are various types of facial armour that were worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan. These include the sōmen, menpō, hanbō or hanpō, and happuri.
A resseimon cheek is a form of cheek below the eyes, and is a mask with a very fierce, angry, and threatening expression. He is characterized by wrinkles on his nose and cheeks, wide open mouth, moustache and gold teeth. This work is a typical ressei mask made of iron and covered with black lacquer over the entire surface, and is attached with a collar called a kuruwa, which was commonly used in the Edo period.
This is a wonderful piece of Japanese Samurai 'art' made for warfare, which features a kuchi hige (mustache), shiwa (facial wrinkles). Extremely collectable art that is most desirable in its own right, often stunningly used for interior decoration as an individual work of samurai art in its own right. A very good urushi lacqured embossed iron mask of 'Me no Shita Men' (half face) type. Mid Edo period 18th century. Typical Myochin school craftmanship with very sharp embossing. A multi coloured silk bound yodarekake, neck defence with hooked standing cord pegs for attaching with cords to the samurai. A doeskin top to the neck defences decorated in a black inked pattern of Shishi lion dogs on a leaf pattern background. The inner face is decorated with vermillion lacquer, and the neck lames are covered in black urushi lacquer under the cords. Face armour, menpo, is samurai armour, and this is called 'with a fierce expression' masks They were worn with the Samurai's armours to serve as a protection for the head and the face from sword cuts. Even if the mask in unsigned, the type, and its the features suggest this fabulous face armour menpo was made by a smith from the Myochin school.
There are 4 types of mask designs that came into general use in Japan: happuri (which covers the forehead and cheeks), hanbō (covers the lower face, from below the nose all the way to the chin), sōmen (covers the entire face) and the me-no-shita-men (covers the face from nose to chin). We can also classify those mask depending on their facial expressions, most of which derive from the theatre masks. It has an asenagashino ana a hole under the chin to drain off perspiration and orikugi two projecting studs above the chin to provide a secure fastening to the wearer. In the 16th century Japan began trading with Europe during what would become known as the Nanban trade. Samurai acquired European armour including the cuirass and comb morion which they modified and combined with domestic armour as it provided better protection from the newly introduced matchlock muskets known as Tanegashima. The introduction of the tanegashima by the Portuguese in 1543 changed the nature of warfare in Japan causing the Japanese armour makers to change the design of their armours from the centuries old lamellar armours to plate armour constructed from iron and steel plates which was called tosei gusoku (new armours). Bullet resistant armours were developed called tameshi gusoku or (bullet tested) allowing samurai to continue wearing their armour despite the use of firearms.
The era of warfare called the Sengoku period ended around 1600, Japan was united and entered a relatively peaceful Edo period. However, the Shoguns of the Tokugawa period were most adept at encouraging clan rivalries and conflicts and battles were engaged throughout the empire. This of course suited the Shogun very well, while all his subordinate daimyo fought each other they were unlikely to conspire against him. Samurai use continued to use both plate and lamellar armour as a symbol of their status but traditional armours were no longer necessary for war, but still for battle. The most important branch of the Myochin school is probably that of the Ki region. Founded by Kunimichi, it became popular between 17th and 18th century for the works of Munesuke, who had the technical ability and the artistic capacity to create samurai armour of great beauty, In fact, this is the period when Japanese armor makers became aware that they were living in a peaceful time and their works begun looking back at the mediaval samurai armour as an inspiration: kabuto started again to be of circular shape and decorations became again large and rich, as in the old o-yoroi armor.
The best ability of Munesuke was the hammering technique (uchidashi): his menpo look almost exagerated in their shapes, with a very long chin, sharp and deep wrinkles on the cheeks and theatrical mouth. Moustaches are often inlaid in silver or gold, instead of being in fur as on Nara style menpo.
But the armor maker who really brough the uchidashi technique to the highest level is Muneakira, pupil and adopted son of Munesuke, which we can consider the best maker for samurai armour of modern times: his hammeried works are extraordinary, with precise and sharp lines of a quality that nobody else achieved.
The men-yoroi, which covered all or part of the face, provided a way to secure the top-heavy kabuto (helmet). The Shinobi-no-o (chin cord) of the kabuto would be tied under the chin. Small hooks called ori-kugi or posts called odome located on various places would help secure the chin cord. The men-yoroi was constructed from iron, leather, or a combination of both. It had a lacquered or rusted type of finish and included a variety of facial details, such as a moustache, fierce teeth and a detachable nose. With the exception of the happuri, a men-yoroi had a small hole underneath the chin for sweat drainage.
Face armour in Japan begins with the happuri, which is depicted in Heian- and Kamakura-era yamato-e paintings and is thought to have appeared during the 10th or 11th centuries. It is depicted as being worn with or without a helmet by both mounted warriors and foot retainers. By the 14th century, the hōate appears, and according to Tom Conlan, this development is behind decreased facial wound statistics. However, others, such as Yamagishi Sumio, believe that the hōate was not widespread at that time, as it—and the later menpō—restricted the vision of the wearer. Hōate are also portrayed in art and literature of the period, most notably the Aki no yo no Nagamonogatari scroll and Taiheiki. The menpō (half-mask with detachable nosepiece) and the sōmen (full face mask) are believed to have been introduced around the mid to late 15th century, and the hanbō (chin guard) in the second half of the 16th century
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3750.00 GBP
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
7950.00 GBP