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Hamon : Ko-nei deki suguha. The nioi-guchi is soft.
Boshi : Ko-maru with a short return on the omote. The ura is yakizume.
Kitae : Itame with fine ko-nie in the ji. There are strong chikei and shirake utsuri is present.
About this sword : A rare signed work by Ryokai Iyeyoshi. This smith was active in Bungo province around Bunmei (1467-1489). He was a descendant of the shodai Ryokai Iyeyoshi, who moved from Yamashiro to Bungo around Oei (1394-1428). He is a well regarded maker. Listed in Fujishiro at Chu Jo Saku and given 3.5 million yen in the Tokotaikan. This blade started life as a kikuchi yari and was later converted to a tanto. The quality is much higher than a typical kikuchi yari. This is a work that was carefully crafted. This blade was polished by Kuzan Oda in 1982 and is in good condition.
The koshirae for this sword is quite striking. The saya is painted with black urushi stripes on a grey ishime back-ground. The menuki are large shakudo shi shi dogs. The tsuka-ito is in wonderful condition. This tsuka-ito is made with lacquered paper and this method is often mistaken for leather. It is well preserved, in thanks to the clear urushi used to protect it from the elements. The shakudo nanako kozuka is a charming Ko-Goto example. It is so old that the nanako has been worn smooth. This kozuka was published in the 2012 KTK catalog. The description from the publication is shown below.
This comes with a NTHK kanteisho paper, work sheet and the 2012 KTK catalog. The receipt for Kuzan Oda’s 1982 polish is also included and there is a storage bag. Overall, this is a fine old-soilder with a lovely koshirae and is a signed koto work.
SOLD
