Show us your dragon horimono.

[Bryce]

G'day guys,

Dragons are common subjects for horimono. There are many different styles out there. They pop up on this forum from time to time and people will often comment that this example is good, this example not so good and so on. If you are doing research on them it is difficult to find many examples in one place. I have discovered that it is also very difficult to take a good photo of one. I thought it might be a good idea to dedicate a thread to them. I will start it with this example by Gassan Sadakatsu dated 1920.

Cheers,

Bryce

 

[Bencld]

Tadatsuna ?

[waljamada]

Well, let me bring a bit of an off beat  horimono example with my only Dragon which has a bit of an artistic depiction and isn't considered very high quality work.  Most of the dragon is supposed to be hidden by clouds and the horimono actually goes over the mune and continues on the other side of the blade but for some reason I can't find a photo of that on my phone but you can see it in the video link.  This blade's horimono are ato-bori most likely modern horimono and there's also a tiger horimono lower down on the blade therefore I've dubbed this blade crouching tiger hidden dragon.

 

Then here's a video I took of the blade:

 

https://youtu.be/3tn...?si=FHb1GcFV10B-A2C5

 

[Bryce]

Thanks guys. Come on there must be more out there?

Cheers,

Bryce

[Nobody]

So no kurikara (草の倶利伽羅) by Gassan Sadakazu 1st

 

 

[Alex A]

I know its an horimono thread, but if folks like dragon carving, good example here.

Dragon tsuba signed Hirado-Ju Kunishige - Sold Archive - Nihonto Message Board (militaria.co.za)

 

[BIG]

Yoshitane

[Bryce]

G'day Peter,

Has that been polished down a bit?

Cheers,

Bryce

[BIG]

No Bryce, Tanto is polished by Mishina sensei.

[Jim Manley]

A few dragons. 
no. 1 Kunihide / Masahide joint work Wakizashi

no. 2&3 Yoshitane horimono on Naotane blades 

No. 4 Sukashi horimono on a Naokatsu katana 

[NewB]

Mino Jumyo

Tenbun

 

 

[Ed]

 

[owazamono]

Here are a couple to add:

 

1. Sukehiro

 

 

2. Suishinshi Masahide (horimono by Yoshitane)

 

[Jim Manley]

Yoshitane dragons on a Naotane. Both signed. The shinsa papers address both Naotane and Yoshitane’s signatures . 

[Bruce Pennington]

I'm surprised at how many are chiseled out of the steel vs cut into the blade.  I don't follow the craft, so maybe it's common.  

 

@Jim Manley - don't want to sidetrack the thread, but could you PM me a couple of good photos of that habaki for the Habaki Art thread, or you are certainly welcome to post it yourself there.

[PNSSHOGUN]

There is something a little magical about a fine Horimono that has been polished down, such as the Kokuhu Kagemitsu Ko-Ryu

 

[mdiddy]

Here is one from my collection, the blade by Suishinshi Masahide with an artistic horimono by Honjo Yoshitane. This type horimono was highlighted by Fujishiro and in other references. I also threw in the horimono on the other side of the blade as a bonus, even though it is not a dragon.

 

 

[owazamono]

Here are several from Showa era, displaying varying levels of quality, mostly on showato, some likely by the same hand.

[Brian]

Thanks Matt, that's a good series and great info. I've long personally been intrigued in that particular horimono and the fact that it is so often found on wartime swords. I expect somewhere there was a company or group of horimono-shi doing these for guys going to war, or on blades sold to be mounted as Gunto. Never heard much about them. Some of the work is poor, but some of it seems fairly competent.
 

And here's a legit one on a Sadakatsu, can't remember where I got the pic.

 

[owazamono]

39 minutes ago, Brian said:

I expect somewhere there was a company or group of horimono-shi doing these for guys going to war

 

I agree. Besides the higher grade gendai swordsmiths (e.g. Sadakatsu, Shigetsugu, etc), I think at least the mass production operation in Seki must have had some artisans helping them (e.g. Kawamura Kanenaga was a skilled engraver). I have seen a disproportionate amount of the Seki-made showato with horimono on blades mounted in the lower grade tachi koshirae.

 

Here is a nicer horimono of a dragon surrounding Fudo Myo-o on a blade by Seki Kanetoki that I once owned, and which has been discussed elsewhere on the forum before.

 

 

[PhoenixDude]

I sold this Echizen Ju Hyuga Daijo Fuijwara Sadatsugu Wakizashi with horimono a few years ago:

[Bryce]

Quote

2 hours ago, Brian said:

And here's a legit one on a Sadakatsu, can't remember where I got the pic

 

G'day Brian,

That pic came from a Christie's auction. I am afraid there is nothing legit about that Sadakazu.

Cheers,

Bryce

[Michael 67]

 

I like blades with Horimono, here mine with dragon

 

 

Kenzo kotani (Yasunori )
 

Seikosai Ichimonji

 

 

 

Sakai ikkansai Shigemasa 

                

 

Kurihara Akihide 

 

         i

[Tohagi]

Here is my little contribution :

 

Unknown carver on a mumei shinshinto blade that looks Bizen or Soden-Bizen utsushi...

 

[Bruce Pennington]

5 hours ago, Brian said:

on a Sadakatsu

Brian,

I have blades by this smith filed under the name SadaKAZU.  Is SadaKATSU just another way to pronounce the same name/kanji?

[David Flynn]

Sadakazu is Shinshinto/Gendaito and father of Sadakatsu.  So no, different Kanji.

[Bruce Pennington]

Maybe Brian did a typo, then?  because this is Sadakatsu:

 

The one Brian posted above is Sadakazu, but he said "Sadakatsu"

[PNSSHOGUN]

Osafune Tomomitsu, another for the polished down Horimono enthusiasts:

 

[owazamono]

2 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

for the polished down Horimono enthusiasts

 

I had this one with a polished down horimono of so no kurikara 

[Brian]

7 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Maybe Brian did a typo, then?  because this is Sadakatsu:

The one Brian posted above is Sadakazu, but he said "Sadakatsu"

 

Yeah, the result of typing without checking. I had it saved as Sadakatsu, but never bothered checking. My mistake.