May 12-14, 2026 Firearms & Militaria
Lot #1311:
A RARE AND IMPORTANT SUISHINSHI MASAHIDE WAKIZASHI WITH MOUNTS, WITH TANOBE MICHIHIRO SAYAGAKI AND NBTHK TOKUBETSU HOZON PAPERS, EX. PAUL DAVIDSON.
Suinshinshi Masahide is, without a doubt, the most influential swordsmith of the Shinshinto period. He started as a blacksmith making farming tools, but when he turned 21, he formally began training as a swordsmith under Yoshihide Shimohara in 1771. In 1774, he returned to his home province of Dewa, where he was employed by the Akimoto family, where he adopted the name "Masahide" and the Suishinshi title. Circa 1783, he moved to Edo to learn swordforging techniques of famous smiths from their descendants. While his early work was very much in the style-over-substance style favored in a peaceful Edo period, at the turn of the century he began advocating for "Fukko-to", returning to the Koto style which favored blades which had substance over style. He appears to have been influenced by watching a number of blades damaged or broken, and believed that these damages were caused by choosing to make flashy swords rather than true working swords. This call became extremely popular, and techniques changed to harken back to the koto period at such a widespread pace that the era is now know as "Shinshinto" or "New New Swords". Towards the end of his career, he gave his art name "Masahide" to his son and successor, and signed as "Amahide". This sword is particularly important, not only as an example of his "Amahide" signature, but this sword has a sayagaki appraisal from the renowned expert Tanobe Michihiro, who not only authenticated the signature, but also notes that the sword is a rare, important, and a fine example of Masahide's Bizen work. Furthermore, it also notes that the sayagaki was done for Paul Davidson, the notable collector, who just had a significant portion of his collection sold at auction, including the Mikazuki Kanemitsu. There are also NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers, further authenticating the signature, with a note on the rear that the sword was submitted for Tokubetsu Hozon by Paul Davidson. The sword measures 1 shaku 8 sun 2 bu (approximately 55.1cm or 21 - 3/4") in the classic shinogi zukuri form with an iori mune and chu kissaki. The jigane is an extremely tight ko-itame, with some scattered chikei, while the hamon is an excellent choji in the koto Bizen style, with a midare komi boshi and nie based activity, including sunagashi and kinsuji. Two piece gold foil habaki with a carved surface. Nakago with ha agari nakagojiri and kesho yasurime, dated Bunsei 5 and signed "Suishinshi Amahide" with his hot stamp at the end of the nakago. The mounts are a saya with a fine nashiji ground in red and black, with well worked iron comprising a koijiri, a tsuba with pierced dragon design, fuchi and kashira with a dragon whirling through clouds, kashira with an extremely interesting raised and pierced design, and menuki in the form of melons. The tsuka-ito is brown and the same has been dyed black. CONDITION: Excellent, in polish, with some very minor superficial handling marks. Mounts very good with some handling marks and rubs, with some crazing to the lacquer, most notable at slots for kozuka and kogai and along the supine edge. Not only is Masahide an outstanding swordsmith in his own right, his students numbered over 100, and many of swordsmiths today can trace back to Masahide, making him an indelible asset to the sword world, and his blades very rarely come to market.
Blade Length
1 shaku 8 sun 2 bu