A late Kamakura ubu naginata on Aoi

[Marius]

Definitely worth having a look, a Juyo piece. I don't think ubu naginata that old pop up very often. You usually see Nambokucho naginata naoshi daito or wakizashi...

 

http://www.aoijapan.com/naginata-mumei-den-taima

[Alex A]

Nice, just up your street that one Mariusz...

[Geraint]

You are right, it is worth a look. The sugata is particularly elegant and any naginata from that period is a rarity. Would love to know where it came from and how it survived.

[Alex A]

Maybe seen a bit of action, just noticed the battle scar on the Mune.

[kusunokimasahige]

I call that a steal....

 

1,550,000.00 JPY = 10,952.37 EUR

 

 

KM

[Gilles]

What a nice naginata !

 

Thank you Mariusz.

[Marius]

I thought it would be an interesting piece to have a look at.

 

The sugata is similar to the shape of naginata shown in various Kamakura period scrolls (like the Heiji Monogatari ekotoba). The nagasa is short compared to the monsters of the Nambokucho period and the blade has a pronounced saki zori.

[runagmc]

Rare indeed, late Kamakura, blade in very nice condition... and papered to Taima no Yamato, no less... Thanks Mariusz

 

Future reference:

[Jean]

There will be probably several bidders :D

[Marius]

Adam,

 

good idea to save photographs for future reference. I attach a picture of the oshigata, plus this description by Tsuruta-san:

 

Blade length : 44.8 cm or 17.63 inches.

Sori : 1.6 cm or 0.62 inches.

Mekugi : 2

Width at the hamachi : 3.28 cm or 1.29 inches.

Kasane : 1.82 cm or 0.71 inches.

Era : Late Kamakura period.

Shape : Wide and thick blade. Mitsumune Naginata.

Jitetsu : Itame hada. There are Jinie and Chikei attached.

Hamon : Suguha and Gunome Midare mix. There are doubule Ha and deep Nioikuchi.

In Ha, there are Kinsuji and Sunagashi. Boshi is Komaru Hakikake and round shape.

[seattle1]

Hello:

While naginata with the shinogi line going to the kissaki are not unknown, they are certainly unusual. The shape at the upper extremes of the blade seems truncated rather unnaturally, and makes me wonder if the kissaki was not broken off at some point and salvaged as you see it.

Arnold F.

[cabowen]

I agree with Arnold. The ”boshi ga taoreru" is the "tip off", so to speak....

[Marius]

In the Heiji scroll, which has been painted in the Kamakura period (a time when attention was being paid to realism in paintings) the naginata are just like this Taima blade, with the shinogi line going straight to the tip. I know, this cannot be seen as conclusive proof, but still. Please note the strong saki-zori, just like in this blade. The fact that the point is not original, is not surprising, of course. After all, this is an old blade :-)

 

Here is the scroll, in an interactive Flash viewer:

http://www.bowdoin.edu/~ktravers/projec ... iewer.html

[Marius]

The ”boshi ga taoreru" is the "tip off"

 

[seattle1]

Hello:

While those early depictions can be useful, they certainly were for Sasano sensei, they are not really very accurate portrayals. The ones shown do not fit the Aoi sword, which has a much less exaggerated curvature towards the tip, and I am not sure they are naginata at all, and if so, they are not well drawn. All naginata that I have seen tend to swell towards the tip, and the shown "evidence" do not. From the implicit length of the shafts for those blades, one could argue that they are or could be nagamaki and not naginata.

Arnold F.

[Marius]

Arnold,

 

I appreciate your dose of healthy scepticism and I tend to agree with the "nagamaki" appellation (not that the distinction between nagamaki and naginata is sharply defined), but I would be cautious making statements about accuracy or lack thereof in these scrolls (so we must both thread lightly here). Let me outline why I think the scrolls are a good source:

 

As said, the Kamakura period has brought a revolution in painting. Portraits of people were not idealised as in the preceding Heian period, and we can assume that the same level of realism was applied to other objects. If you take the fragment with the burning of the Sanjo Palace, the (grizzly) realism is astounding. Just look at the poor guy pinned down by two warriors, one of whom is cutting his head off with a dagger, blood squirting from the gashing wound. That is as realistic as you can get and a far cry from the peaceful and idealised images of courtly painting of the Heian period.

 

Look at the armour, the sword mountings, everything. The realism of its depiction has been confirmed by artefacts gathered and documented in shrines. I think these scrolls give us a pretty good picture of what warriors looked like and what weapons they used in the Kamakura period.

 

But than again who am I to make such statements?

 

One thing I can say for sure - I don't know if this is indeed a Kamakura period naginata. We all got used to those long blades of the Nambokucho period, so who knows, it may be just like naginata looked like before.

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello, if memory serves, I do believe that you will find this topic of accuracy of artist renditions of naginata addressed in the book Arms and Armor of the Samurai by Turnbull, Stephen; Bottomley, Ian. Sorry, I don't have access at the moment to my copy to see for certain. You will also find photos of both naginata and nagamaki for visual comparison.

[seattle1]

Hello:

I am sorry that I do not have the Turnbull for ready reference Franco, and certainly as Mariusz said, the typing of naginata and nagimaki is fluid. I believe that Mariusz's points are all well taken and I don't think we can split hairs too finely. It just seems to me that the Aoi naginata isn't really typical in terms of form and the painting shown, while historically helpful, does not settle the issue, as if it could be settled at all.

Personally speaking I am a fan of both naginata and nagamaki, and I do not fully understand the discount some of them sell for, unless one takes into consideration the problems of in house storage, handling and transportation that they can present.

Arnold F.

[Marius]

Arnold,

 

you have raised an interesting point with the value of nginata/nagamaki (ubu) blades. I think it might be the factors of storage and transportation that affect the price, but also, as in wakizashi, the notion that this was the weapon of the lower ranks. Of course we know of famous naginata forged by masters, but the notion sits deep, apparently.

 

BTW, I have stumbled upon a Naginata by Kagemitsu. It is dated 1322, so Kamakura, is relatively short at 51cm and has the shinogi going right into the kissaki. Again, this does not mean that it is typical, but a nice example of a naginata sugata simliar to the Tegai currently sold by Aoi.

 

http://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100463/000 ... =649&num=6

 

Oh, and I agree with you and Chris, the point looks like it was reshaped. Still, I wouldn't mind owning that blade

[Blundemo]

There will be probably several bidders :D

 

Will you be the first?

[Jean]

Branson,

 

No, i have already my Yamato meito, you will find it using the search button, using keyword "Hosho" :D