G9201(T3721)
+Shipping

Tanto signed Bishu-ju MASAHIDE

Shinshin-to End of Edo period (Keio era\ca1865) Owari
Length of cutting edge28.0cm Curvature Width of cutting edge30.8mm With of base7.8mm

NBTHK(Tokubetsu Hozon) certificate

Blade construction: Hira-zukuri, Mitsu-mune, Wide in Mihaba and thick in Kasane from base throughout to point. Less degree of tapering from base to point, featuring a pronounced upper Fukura belly. The blade has a robust, weighty feel in 244grams w/o Habaki. (click HERE for higher resolution image of the entire blade)
Forging(Hada): Forging is conspicuous Masame-hada ware appears on both side.
Carvings: Screen carving work 欄間透 of Sanko-ken 三鈷剣 (a sword with three-pronged handles)
Temper(Hamon): The blade features a Nie-rich hardened boundary lines. The tempering forms wide Suguha where boundary belt is rich in frequent Sunagashi or Nie-suji (wispy streaks of hardened steel) present.
Temper of tip(Boshi): The Hamon continues in a Suguha along Fukura belly then forming a small rounded tip (komaru) with an indication of wispy streaks of Hakikake the deeply turn-back.
Tang(Nakago): Ubu (unaltered), with one mekugi-ana (peg hole). The Yasurime is horizontal Kiri filemarks with an uneven U-shape Ha-agari kuri-jiri shaped heel and also same appears on the flat spine. On the center of Nakago, a five-character signature that starts with the place of work Bishu-ju 尾州住 then smith name MASAHIDE 政秀.

MASAHIDE 政秀, named Saito Masahide 斉藤政秀, was a prominent disciple of the eighth-generation master, Masatsune 政常. He lived in Nagoya Neriya-cho (currently Marunouchi 2-chome and Nishiki 3-chome in Naka Ward, Nagoya City) and later moved to Maezu Shichihonmatsu (present-day Chiyoda 3-chome in the same ward) in his later years.
He was skilled at Masame-gitae (straight-grain forging) and was renowned as a master of Tanto. His works bear dates ranging from Bunka 14 (1817) to Ansei 5 (1858), as well as dates from the Keio era and Meiji 2–3 (1869–1870). He passed away in Meiji 5 (1872).

Among his extant works, his signatures include inscriptions such as "Bishu-ju Masahide", "Owari no Kuni Masahide", "Bishu Meifu-ju Masahide", and even more elaborate titles like "Mino no Kami Fujiwara Masahide Saku, Oite Jingu Isuzugawa motte Kami ni Kitae Kore, Koka Kinoto-Mi Nigatsu Kichijitsu" (Made by Mino no Kami Fujiwara Masahide, forged with divine spirit at Isuzugawa in Jingu, Auspicious Day, February, Koka Year of the Snake). Some tanto also bear inscriptions of his lineage, such as "Sagami no Kami Masatsune Nyudo Kyusei Mago" (Ninth-generation descendant of Sagami no Kami Masatsune Nyudo).

This particular tanto showcases his expertise in Masame-gitae, displaying his skill to its fullest potential with exceptional workmanship. The Sanko-ken (Three-Pronged Sword) motif represents Fudo Myo-o, the guardian deity of Buddhism who protects the faithful and delivers people from calamities and confusion.
It is mounted in a Shirasaya (plain wooden mounting) with a gold-foil single-layer habaki collar.

reference data :
Owari Tōkōfu Iwata Atou 1985 Publisher : Nagoya city Board of Education
Honma Kunzan & Ishii Masakuni, Nihonto Meikan, Yuzankaku, 1975