A fine ozutsu teppo [matchlock hand cannon] | The barrel signed Niju ketai makibari, Sesshu ju…, the stock signed Akaura Riheie saku (made by Akaura Riheie) | Edo period, 18th century

Walter A. Compton (1911-1990) 

Art of the Samurai: The Paul L. Davidson Collection (New York, 2023), p. 104.

Walter Ames Compton (1911-1990) was born in Elkhart, Indiana. He was educated at Princeton University and Harvard University Medical School. He served in the United States Army Medical Corps between 1942-46 and was stationed throughout World War II at Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver, Colorado, receiving the rank Lieutenant General. During that period he served as Director of Medical and Surgical Technical Training. After the war, he went on to become a prominent pharmaceutical researcher and head of the Miles Laboratories, one of the nation's leading manufacturers in healthcare products, his research career spanning, nearly half a century. Dr Compton acquired and returned several important swords to Japan, and he received a 4th Class of Order of the Rising Sun from Government of Japan. Dr Compton was an honorary member of Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai [Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword].