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BIZEN MASAZANE (CIRCA 1017-1065) A Ko-Bizen TachiHeian period (794-1185) image 1
BIZEN MASAZANE (CIRCA 1017-1065) A Ko-Bizen TachiHeian period (794-1185) image 2
BIZEN MASAZANE (CIRCA 1017-1065) A Ko-Bizen TachiHeian period (794-1185) image 3
BIZEN MASAZANE (CIRCA 1017-1065) A Ko-Bizen TachiHeian period (794-1185) image 4
BIZEN MASAZANE (CIRCA 1017-1065) A Ko-Bizen TachiHeian period (794-1185) image 5
Property from a Private Collection, Seattle
Lot 132

BIZEN MASAZANE (CIRCA 1017-1065)
A Ko-Bizen Tachi
Heian period (794-1185)

26 October 2022, 10:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$44,475 inc. premium

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BIZEN MASAZANE (CIRCA 1017-1065)

A Ko-Bizen Tachi
Heian period (794-1185)
Sugata (configuration):honzukuri, iorimune, kogissaki, deep koshizori
Kitae (forging pattern): ko-itame in even, densely packed jinie
Hamon (tempering pattern): chōji gunome mixed with ōmidare in nie, nioi and with ashi, saka-ashi, yō, sunagashi and utsuri
Bōshi (tip): indistinct
Nakago (tang): ubu with ōsujikai file marks and two holes, close together and signed Masazane
Habaki (collar): two-piece, gilt-copper
Nagasa (length from tip to beginning of tang): 31 3/16in (78.9cm)
Motohaba (width at start of tempered edge): 1 3/8in (3.5cm)
Sakihaba (width before tip): 5/8in (1.6cm)
In shirasaya (wood storage scabbard) with inscription and attestation to Masazane by Honma Junji (Kanzan), written October 7, 1965

Footnotes

Provenance
Col. Dean S. Hartley, Jr. Collection

Published
Nihontō Bizen-den Taikan, p. 78

Exhibited
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, on temporary loan and display, 2014

The sayagaki was written by Honma Junji while he was in the United States, visiting the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Col. Hartley assisted Dr. Honma with his examination of the museum's collection of over 500 swords.

The sword was awarded a Tokubetsu Kichō Tōken (Especially Previous Sword) certificate # 95039, issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai (Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword) on March 5, 1965, with Dr Honma chairing the shinsa team. It was later designated as a Jūyō Tōken (Important Sword) no. 4117 issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyokai in February, 1973. Both sets of papers have now been lost.

Additional information

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