Features:

A classic chu Koto katana from the well-established Shikkake school of Yamato. This looks to be an earlier work, dating to the late Kamakura period ca. early 1300’s. The Shikkake school was one of the Yamato Goha (大和五派), the five mainline schools associated with Yamato and it’s network of influential temples. The temples, with their powerful religious leaders and armies of Sohei monks, were benefactors to the Senjuin, Shikkake, Hosho, Taima, and Tegai schools which co-located near their customers. The Shikkake school was named for a district near the Tōdai-ji Temple from which the school worked. This example is healthy, featuring classic Yamato-style workmanship for a 700 year old sword.

The blade features a sturdy sugata, balancing a healthy mihaba and stout kissaki with a subtle koshizori. The blade shows deep bo-hi on both sides that extend from the kissaki into the nakago. The jigane is a classic chu Koto Yamato Den with a virulent itame that is interspersed with mokume pools and a running masame that descends through the hamon to the ha. The jigane is dotted with sprays of ji nie. The hamon is an archetypal nie-based midare integrated with gunome formations that occasionally display togariba. The hamon is illuminated by a plenary display of Yamato hataraki: sunagashi courses beneath the yakiba while nijuba, uchinoke, and sprays of yubashiri radiate above it. The hamon finishes with subtle hakikake in the boshi. The nakago is mumei, o-suriage, with two plugged mekugi-ana.

Along with high quality Edo period koshirae featuring exceptional en suite iron furniture. Additional wooden shirasaya with sayagaki by noted connoisseur Tanobe Michihiro.