Tanto made in the Shinto period are very rare. As wakizashi were made in mass numbers during the 1600’s , tanto were seemingly made only by special order. Usually only the higher ups carried tanto, there was not a great call or need for them. So when we see a tanto made by a well known maker such as Masateru, we must study this very closely due to its rarity. Edo Toko are very famous for their ability to cut well. Masateru’s lineage is from the famous Hojoji School in which Masahiro is the headmaster. All of the smiths from this school are well known and popular with the Bushi. There is a very famous Kaneshige known as Raiden, with 3 gold inlay testcuts that was made not only by Kaneshige and his son, but by Masateru as well. The 2nd Masateru moved to Kyoto and received the use of the rare kikumon from Iga no Kami Kinmichi, a very great honor during those times.
This tanto done in hirazukuri form has a hamon made up of suguha based notare done in very thick nie deki. Nice sunagashii appears and shows itself very nicely. The jigane is a very nice itame with ko itame , chikei appears in places along with ji nie. The kasane is very thick, giving the blade a strong sugata. The tang is ubu with 2 holes and a kikumon. In an old shirasaya, good clean old polish. |
