AS25580 Tanto: Sa-no-Yukihide (NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token)

Ordering Number: AS25580

Tanto in Shirasaya (NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Token).

Signature:
Sa-no-Yukihide 左行秀
Ansei Go nen Hachi Gatsu Hi 安政五年八月日 (August, 1858)

Sayagaki:
Sa-no-Yukihide
Signed with a three-character signature and dated Ansei 5. Blade length measures 8 sun(approximately 24.2cm).
Appraised by Tanzan in February,2024.
The workmanship displays the characteristic style of this smith, featuring an overall masame forging with a wide suguha hamon showing a slight notare tendency. The nie and nioi are deeply and richly developed, blending beautifully with the jigane, while frequent sunagashi activity appears throughout. The boshi is formed in hakikake style. It results in an excellent and highly impressive work.

(We divide 4 sections for each sword as Saijyo Saku, Jyojyo Saku, Jyo Saku and Regular Saku).
This work ranks as Saijyo Saku among the works of Sa Yukihide.

Habaki: Double-layer gold-covered habaki.
Blade Length: 24.2cm (9.53in)
Curvature: 0cm (0.00in)
Mekugi-ana: 1
Motohaba: 2.59cm (1.02in)
Kasane: 0.74cm (0.29in)
Weight: 220g

Shape: wide and thick Tanto with Mitsumune.
Jigane: Well-forged masame hada
Hamon: Nie-deki Suguha with Sunagashi blending in Masame.

From Aoi-Art:
Tanto by Sa Yukihide are extremely rare. This work displays an outstanding masame-hada. It is truly valuable piece.

Features:
Sa Yukihide was a swordsmith born in Chikuzen Province, and he claimed to be a descendant of the Chikuzen Samonji school. From around the Tenpo era, he worked in Edo, and later moved to Tosa, where he began signing his works as Sa Yukihide. In 1856, he succeeded Sekita Katsuhiro, his teacher in Tosa, and became an official swordsmith of the Tosa domain. From Ansei 7 (1860), he moved to the Tosa clan’s Edo residence, where he not only forged swords but also engaged in the manufacture of firearms. His reputation at the time was so high that he was called the “Modern Masamune,” and he received orders from the Tosa lord Yamauchi Yodo as well as Tosa retainers such as Itagaki Taisuke. Among these works, a sword ordered by Sakamoto Ryoma’s elder brother Naokata has been handed down as a possession of Ryoma himself.

It is evident that Yukihide maintained close relationships with the Tosa retainers. However, upon learning that Inui (Itagaki) Taisuke and others were planning an uprising at the Tosa clan residence, Yukihide feared that he himself might be charged with treason. He therefore informed the Tosa lord Yamauchi Yodo of the plot. As a result, he lost the trust of the Tosa retainers and was forced to return to Tosa.
After returning to Tosa, he changed his signature to Toto. It is said that swords by Yukihide came to be avoided because of what was regarded as his betrayal of the anti-shogunate faction, and he retired from swordsmithing following the Haitorei (Sword Abolishment Edict) in 1870.

NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Certficiate
AoiArt estimation paper: Whole Oshigata

Please note: The price does not include the international shipping fees.