Shishi Sadamune

獅子貞宗

Also known as: Shishi Sadamune; the wakizashi named for its lion menuki

Smith

Sadamune (Sōshū Sadamune)

Era

Late Kamakura – early Nanbokuchō period (early 14th century)

Type

Wakizashi

Designation

Meibutsu (listed in the Kyōhō Meibutsu-chō)

Location

Private collection (formerly the Iyo-Saijō Matsudaira family)

Description

Overview

Shishi Sadamune is an unsigned wakizashi attributed to Sōshū Sadamune, measuring 1 shaku 2 sun 5 bu (37.8 cm). Both sides bear a bō-hi groove; the obverse groove is carved with a kurikara dragon entwined with a sword accompanied by a three-pronged vajra (sanko), and the reverse groove bears a relief carving of a sword with a three-pronged vajra hilt — carving for which this blade is especially noted among Sadamune's works.

The Origin of the Name

The name derives from the lion (shishi) motif on the menuki fitted to the blade's koshirae.

Provenance

The blade was recorded as a possession of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the "Toyotomi-ke Okoshimono-chō," and Hon'ami Kōtoku produced a sword sketch (katana-e) of it. It was fire-damaged during the Siege of Osaka, after which Echizen Yasutsugu reforged it and also produced a copy. Tokugawa Ieyasu gave the blade to Tokugawa Yorinobu of the Kishū Tokugawa family; it passed through Yorinobu's second son Yorizumi and was transmitted to the Iyo-Saijō Matsudaira family.