A JAPANESE SHIKOMIZUE (SWORD STICK); BLADE CIRCA 1750-1800, MOUNTED 19TH CENTURY

the straight shinogi zukuri blade mounted in a heavy bark covered wooden saya (scabbard), forging and tempering details mostly obscured by rubbing, but a faint notare (wavy) tempering pattern is just visible; nakago (tang) firmly attached in the tsuka (hilt) so any dating or signature cannot be identified

61 cm; 24 in blade

Blades from the Kanbun period (1661-1673) and later tended to have very little curvature as can be found on this sword. The sword stick was a popular item for Victorian or Edwardian gentleman to carry, and after 1876 when the samurai as a class were abolished and the carrying of swords was prohibited many older blades were remounted. New poorer quality blades were also made specifically for sword sticks but this example shows details of true forging and was probably remounted as a sword stick for a western visitor to Japan in the late nineteenth century.