75.3cm long Kamakura period Ayanokoji daito with 2.2cm sori.

[Ray Singer]

Listing a very long Kamakura period blade attributed to the Yamashiro school Ayanokoji. This group is generally felt to have started in the middle Kamakura period with the smith Sadatoshi. I believe this is an earlier example, also in the middle Kamakura time period. Markus Sesko has an excellent article on the school at the link below.

https://markussesko.com/2015/09/06/kantei-4-yamashiro-5-ayanokoji-綾小路-school/

 

This is a typical example. The hamon is a very complex assemblage of choji-midare and gunome-midare, with tobiyaki and sunagashi throughout. The jihada is generally ko-itame, but there are coarser areas and a few openings. The blade is very old and shows its age in places, but Yamashiro blades from this time period are not readily available and remains a nice example to study. The previous owner had the sword papered with the NBTHK (Tokubetsu Hozon) but lost the kanteisho. It is consequentially being offered for a price well below his original cost. I have attached photos of the previous kanteisho here.

 

$7,500 (plus shipping & PayPal).