JUYO NAOE SHIZU WAKIZASHI WITH JUYO KOSHIRAE
I am very pleased to offer this Juyo wakizashi with solid gold Juyo mountings. This sword has been attributed to the Naoe Shizu school of Mino Province. This school was founded in the Kamakura Era by Shizu Saburo Kaneuji. Kaneuji was born in the late 13th century in the Yamato area. Around the Geno Era (1319-1321), the latter part of the Kamakura period, Kaneuji left Yamato and moved to Taki-gun Shizu. Prior to this point he is considered to have been a master smith of the Yamato Tegai School. Around the time of his move to Shizu in Mino Prefecture, he spent some time as a student of Masamune of the Soshu School. In fact, Kaneuji is considered to be one of the ten famous students of Masamune. Returning to Mino after his studies with Masamune, we find a marked transformation in his sword making. He dropped most of the Yamato characteristics and adopted a strong Soshu influence in his workmanship.
In later times the students of Kaneuji moved from Shizu to Naoe that is also in Mino. Hence when we speak of a blade being a Naoe Shizu blade, we are referring to a blade made by one of the students of Kaneuji. This wakizashi has been given the attribution as having been made by one of the smiths of the Naoe Shizu school who carried n the traditions of Shizu Kaneuji.
This sword was awarded Juyo Token status during the 20th Juyo shinsa in 1971. The Edo period mountings were awarded Juyo status along with the blade at the same time. The length of this blade is 50 cm. or 19 11/16 inches. The sori is 0.9 cm or 13/16 inches. The moto haba is 2.65 cm or just over 1 inch. The saki haba is 2.1 cm or 13/16 inches.
The blade is shinogi zukuri, o-suriage mumei, with bo-hi down the length of both sides and continuing into the nakago. The jitetsu is itame and it is bright and clear. The hamon is gunome and ko-notare. It is nie deki with clouds of nie throughout the jihada. Really breathtaking.
The mountings for this sword are really special. All of the metal work on the saya with the exception of the tsuba and the kozuka are of solid gold. Just the fuchi by itself weighs 31.2 grams. Even the seppa are solid gold. The fittings are carved beautifully with the design of dragons and waves. The tsuba is iron with kiri mons around the mimi. The kozuka is signed by Goto Teijo (1603-1673), the ninth mainline master.
This is an exceptional wakizashi with outstanding gold koshirae that would be a standout in any collection.
PRICE: $32,500.00
Questions or feedback? Email me!