Blade and Mounting for a Dagger (Tantō)
blade, dated 1525; mounting, 19th century
Medium
Steel, wood, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), copper-silver alloy (shibuichi), gold, lacquer, rayskin (samé), silk, abalone shell, silver
Dimensions
L. 17 in. (43.2 cm); L. of blade 13 7/16 in. (34.2cm); L. of cutting edge 10 1/16 in. (25.6 cm)
Classification
Daggers
Culture
Japanese
Department
Arms and Armor
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Brayton Ives and W. T. Walters, 1891
Accession Number
91.2.54
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Blade and Mounting for a Dagger (Tantō exemplifies the masterful fusion of lethal and artistic refinement in Japanese and armor. The blade, forged by the skilled smith Toshimasa dated 1525 during the Muromachi period measures an impressive 13 716 inches long with a razor-sharp cutting edge 10 1/16 inches. Its th-century mounting, attributed to artisans from the renowned Kajikawa school and Kuniyoshi, elevates it to a wearable work of art, housed today in the Metropolitan Museum of as a gift from Brayton Ives and W T. Walters in 1891. Tantō daggers were essential to samurai war...