* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Dōyo Ichimonji
道誉一文字
Also known as: Dōyo Ichimonji; the Ichimonji tachi owned by Sasaki Dōyo
Description
Overview
Dōyo Ichimonji is a tachi attributed to the Fukuoka Ichimonji school of Bizen Province, bearing a single-character "Ichi" (一) signature near the habaki. It measures 80 cm in blade length with 3.8 cm of curvature (recorded as 2 shaku 6 sun 4 bu in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō), a dignified and substantial sugata.
The Origin of the Name
The name derives from ownership by Sasaki Dōyo (Kyōgoku Dōyo, born 1296, died 1373), a great-great-grandson of Sasaki Nobutsuna who served the first Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, during the Nanbokuchō period. Known as a flamboyant "basara daimyo," Dōyo was also accomplished in renga poetry and the tea ceremony.
Provenance
The blade is recorded as held by the Kutsuki family of Kutsuki Valley in Ōmi Province during the Tenbun era (1532-1555). It later passed to the Echizen Matsudaira family, held successively by Matsudaira Tadanao and his son Mitsunaga, before being submitted to the Hon'ami family in 1684 and receiving a valuation certificate (origami) of one hundred pieces of gold. After passing through the Owari Tokugawa family, it was given by Tokugawa Tsunanari of Owari to Nanbu Yukinobu in December 1697, entering the Nanbu family; it is recorded first among the Nanbu domain's 1728 "Goshichimotsu Okoshimono Onaratame" register. In October 1928, Nanbu Toshiatsu presented it to the Imperial Household. The blade bears a stain roughly 4 sun long at mid-blade on the obverse side and about 1 sun near the habaki.
Designation and Present Location
Formerly recorded as a Gyobutsu (Imperial property), it remains today an Imperial Collection item held under the custody of the Imperial Household Agency.
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