鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (Daishō)

Various artists/makers

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 380

This pair of swords (daishō) was once in the collection of the Tokugawa shogun's family. It features scabbards with polished and lacquered, exquisitely fine-textured ray skin, and hilts wrapped with delicately braided cords. The gold hilt ornaments (menuki) and knife handles (kozuka), mounted to the reverse of the scabbards, are works by the fifth-generation Gotō artist, Tokujō (後藤徳乗, 1550–1631). Tokujō's descendant, the fifteenth Gotō generation Mitsuyoshi (後藤光美, 1788–1834), made the sword guards.Their terraced concave shape is rare, and they display the finest form of nanako, a surface finish with small dots.

鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (<i>Daishō</i>), Sword (katana) blade inscribed by Muramasa (Japanese, active 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese

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鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (<i>Daishō</i>), Sword (katana) blade inscribed by Muramasa (Japanese, active 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese
鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (<i>Daishō</i>), Sword (katana) blade inscribed by Muramasa (Japanese, active 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese
鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (<i>Daishō</i>), Sword (katana) blade inscribed by Muramasa (Japanese, active 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese
鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (<i>Daishō</i>), Sword (katana) blade inscribed by Muramasa (Japanese, active 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese
鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (<i>Daishō</i>), Sword (katana) blade inscribed by Muramasa (Japanese, active 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese
鮫皮研出鞘大小拵 Blades and Mountings for a Pair of Swords (<i>Daishō</i>), Sword (katana) blade inscribed by Muramasa (Japanese, active 16th century), Steel, wood, lacquer, ray skin (<i>same</i>), thread, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, Japanese

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