Antique Japanese & World Weapons AUG. 29th
Lot 11:
Very Good Japanese Samurai WAKIZASHI Sword ~ Blade + Kozuka Signed ~ MUNEMITSU. Lovely example in its fine quality bronze furniture with gold and silver inlaid relief images of warriors in combat. Large iron Tsuba of scarce octagonal form, decorated with fine webbing patterns. Bronze handled Kozuka with a large gold gilt dragon, bearing a lengthy signature to the blade. Very nice blade showing active Hamon tamper-line, interestingly slightly bumpier to one side and more straight on the other, the tamper-line is well visible along the entire edge and curving around the tip. Ricasso with the copper double-habaki. Tang is signed by the blacksmith Munemitsu. Koto period, circa 1470s.MUNEMITSU (̴娈 ;¢€”Ã¥â€&Acir c;¦Ã¢€Â°), 5th gen., Bunmei (æâ€â€œ& Atilde;¢€Â¡ÃƒÂ&brvba r;˜Ž, 1469-1487), Bizen ââ‚&Acir c;¬Ã¢€Å“ ââ‚&Acir c;¬Ã…“Bizen no Kuni-jÃ…ÂÂ&la quo; Osafune SakyÅ no Shin Munemitsuââ&acir c;€šÂ¬Ã‚ (Ã¥â€Å¡ ;â„¢Ã&Aci rc;¥Ã¢€Â°Ã‚ ;Ã¥â€Âº ½Ã¤Â ½Ã‚Âé•&At ilde;‚·Ã¨à ‹â€ ¹Ã&Aci rc;¥Ã‚·ÂÂ&b rvbar;äÂÂ&ord m;Ž&Atil de;¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â&sup 2;å®&Atild e;¢€”Ã¥â€&Aci rc;¦Ã¢€Â°), ââ‚&Acir c;¬Ã…“Bizen no Kuni Yukie-gun-jÃ…Â&Acir c;« Osafune SakyÅ no Shin Munemitsuââ&acir c;€šÂ¬Ã‚ (Ã¥â€Å¡ ;â„¢Ã&Aci rc;¥Ã¢€Â°Ã‚ ;Ã¥â€Âº ½Ã©Â&A circ;ÂÂè&At ilde;‚²Â éƒÂ& Acirc;¡ÃƒÂ¤Ã‚&fra c12;ÂÂé•Ã ;‚·Ã¨Ë&ac irc;€ ¹ÃÂ& yen;·ÂÂ&brvba r;äº&A tilde;‚¬Ã©Ã& cent;‚¬Â²&A tilde;ƒÂ¥Ã‚®Ã&c ent;€”Ã¥â€Â& brvbar;â€Â°), ââ‚&Acir c;¬Ã…“Bizen no Kuni Osafune Katsumitsu Munemitsu BitchÃ…ÂÂ&laq uo; Kusakabe ni oite sakuââ‚& Acirc;¬Ã‚ (Ã¥â€Å¡ ;â„¢Ã&Aci rc;¥Ã¢€Â°Ã‚ ;Ã¥â€Âº ½Ã©•Ã‚& Acirc;·ÃƒÂ¨Ã‹â ;€ ¹å ;â€Â¹Ã‚Â&Atil de;ƒÂ¥Ã¢€Â¦&Ati lde;¢€Â°ÃƒÂ¥&Atild e;‚®â€”ÃÂ&ye n;â€Â¦Ã¢€&Ac irc;°ÃƒÂ¥Ã¢€&Arin g;¡Ã¢â€žÂ¢&Atil de;ƒÂ¤Ã‚¸à ‚Âæâ ;€â€œÃ‚¼ÃƒÂ¨& Atilde;‚Ââ€Â°Ã ƒÂ¥Ã‚£Ã‚Â&Atil de;ƒÂ¤Ã‚½Ã…&acir c;€œ, ââ‚&Acir c;¬Ã…“made by Bizen Osafune Katsumitsu and Munemitsu in BitchÃ…ÂÂ&laq uo; ÃŒÂÂs Kusakabeâââ ;€šÂ¬Ã‚Â), second son of RokurÃ…ÂÂzaem on Sukemitsu (Ã¥â€Â&brvba r;ÂÂé&Atil de;†â€™Ã…½ÃƒÂ¥ ;·¦& Atilde;ƒÂ¨Ã‚¡à ;¢€ÂºÃƒÂ©Ã ;¢€â€œÃ¢â€šÂ&no t;ç¥&Atil de;‚ÂÃ¥â€&Ac irc;¦Ã¢€Â°), SakyÅ no Shin (å·&Ati lde;‚¦Ã¤&Atild e;‚ºÂ¬Ã&Aci rc;©Ã¢â€šÂ¬&Atild e;‚²), younger brother of UkyÅ no Suke Katsumitsu (Ã¥ÂÂÂ&Ac irc;³ÃƒÂ¤Ã‚ ºÃ‚¬Ã¤ ;º®&Atild e;ƒÂ¥Ã¢€Â¹Ã ;‚ÂÃ¥â€&Acir c;¦Ã¢€Â°), he was born in the ninth year of EikyÅ (æ°&Ati lde;‚¸Ã¤à ;‚ºÂ«, 1437), there exist joint works with UkyÅ no Suke Katsumitsu and after the death of Katsumitsu also with his son JirÃ…ÂÂzaemon Katsumitsu, we know date signature from the first year of Bunmei (1469) to the third year of KyÃ…ÂÂroku (äº&At ilde;‚«Ã§à ‚¦â€Å¾, 1530) which shows us that he must have lived at least to the age of 92, he supported the Sengoku-daimyÃ…Â&Ac irc; Akamatsu Masanori (èµ&Atil de;‚¤Ã¦à ;‚¾æ â€Â¿&Ati lde;ƒÂ¥Ã¢€Â°&Atild e;¢€Â¡, 1455-1496) ââ‚&Acir c;¬Ã¢€Å“ who gained temporarily control over the provinces Harima, Bizen and Mimasaka ââ‚&Acir c;¬Ã¢€Å“ in forging swords and accompanied him to Harima province, there also exist works which were made in KyÃ…ÂÂto and in a field camp in Ã…Å’mi province, mostly katateuchi with much niku, less tapering, and a short nakago are extant, tantÅ are also rather compact, have uchizori and a thick kasane, the jigane is a dense ko-mokume with ji-nie or a somewhat standing-out itame, the hamon is a gunome-chÅ ji or suguha in nioi-deki mixed with ashi and yÅ and ko-nie, the jiba of the 5th gen. is more nie-laden than that of his predecessors and does not show utsuri, he was also renowned as excellent horimono carver, ryÃ…ÂÂ-wazamo no, jÃ…ÂÂjà ;ƒâ€¦Ã‚Â-saku.Total Length in Scabbard – 27 1/2" Blade Length (along the spine, from Habaki notch to the tip) – 19 1/2"
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