The Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armour
The Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armour
The Property of an American Gentleman
A Tachi | Signed Zen Hakushu Nobutaka nyudo | Edo period, dated Kanbun jusannen (1673)
Lot Closed
May 11, 02:31 PM GMT
Estimate
25,000 - 30,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
The Property of an American Gentleman
A Tachi
Signed Zen Hakushu Nobutaka nyudo
Edo period, dated Kanbun jusannen (1673)
Sugata [configuration]: shinogi-zukuri, shallow tori-zori, suguha bohi on both sides
Kitae [forging pattern]: tight itame hada
Hamon [tempering pattern]: Ko-nie with a wide suguha
Boshi [tip]: Ko-maru with long kaeri
Nakago [tang]: Iriyamagata with two mekugi-ana, signed Zen Hakushu Nobutaka nyudo and dated Seinen nanajuissai kore o tsukuru Kanbun jusannen hachigatsu hi (Made on a day in August 1673 at the age of 71)
Habaki [collar]: Gold
Nagasa [length from kissaki to machi]: 76.5 cm., 30⅛ in.
Saki-haba [width at the yokote]: 2 cm., ¾ in.
Moto-haba [width at the machi]: 2.8 cm., 1 in.
The koshirae [mount]: 108 cm., 42 ½ in.
the fine tachi koshirae of black lacquer with an exaggerated pointed kojiri, decorated with trailing maple leaves and cherry blossoms, the silver fittings with further maple and cherry, pierced with boar's-eye openings (inome bori), similarly decorated on the ashi and fuchi-kashira, the tsuka with green ito, the gold menuki chased and engraved with hana no en Genji komon, the iron mokko-gata tsuba is mumei, pierced with four boar's-eye openings, the large copper seppa-dai engraved with floral scrolls
The gold menuki refer to Under the Cherry Blossoms (Hana no en), the eighth chapter of Murasaki Shikobu's Heian period novel the Tale of Genji. These abstract symbols refer to different chapters comprising the narrative, with some taken on by daimyo as family crests (kamon).
The collection of Quincy Adams Shaw's Japanese works of art included fine lacquerware such as writing boxes (suzuribako), inro, incense boxes (kogo), as well as textiles and metalwork, which he bequeathed to the Tokyo National Museum in 1909. The Boston business magnate's eclectic collection extended also to Italian Renaissance sculptures and the pastel and etching work of Jean François Millet, the legacy of which can be viewed in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he donated many of these works.