A Shinto Samurai Naganata Naoshi Wakizashi With Shakudo Edo Fittings & Full Edo Traditional Polish

Just returned from a year of expert artisan conservation polish of the original Edo polish blade and cleaning. Now looking superb, the unokubi zukuri bo-hi blade with a vivid toran great wave hamon, is mounted with all original Edo shakudo koshirae of fuchigashira, decorated with takebori drinking gourd and woodsman’s axe, flower basket menuki and kozuka, which is decorated shakudo with gold birds in flight over the sea. With an iron and copper and gold onlay mokko form tsuba decorated with a seated figure in a gold patterned robe, alongside the river below Mount Fuji.
Beautiful urushi spiral lacquer pattern saya, The original Edo period urushi lacquer on the saya is in simply excellent condition and shows most elegant simplicity, it reveals within that simplicity the finest craftsmanship and beauty worthy of a master of the art of urushi decor. Japanese lacquer, or urushi, is a transformative and highly prized material that has been refined for over 7000 years.

Cherished for its infinite versatility, urushi is a distinctive art form that has spread across all facets of Japanese culture from the tea ceremony to the saya scabbards of samurai swords

Japanese artists created their own style and perfected the art of decorated lacquerware during the 8th century. Japanese lacquer skills reached its peak as early as the twelfth century, at the end of the Heian period (794-1185). This skill was passed on from father to son and from master to apprentice.

Tōran-ba is a hamon which looks like as if surging waves are rolling back and forth. It was created by a swordsmith in Settsu (Osaka prefecture), Sukehiro, in the early Edo period. It is the very first pictorial hamon which showed “a hamon as an expression”. It had a great influence on many swordsmiths over time. It is an innovative hamon which is copied on some swords made from the Bakumatsu.
A very few minuscule blade age marks..  read more

Code: 24707

A Fine & Most Beautiful Japanese Katana, Signed Mitsuhiro Saku Late Koto to Shinto Period

A very attractive samurai katana, around 400 to 450 years old in a superb colour livery of blue-green tsuka-ito and a two colour saya of brown ishime {stone finish} and bright black urushi ribbed lacquer to the top quarter section, bound with white sageo, and a polished carved buffalo horn kurigata and sayajiri. The blade is signed, Mitsuhiro and shows a beautiful gunome hamon. The pair of menuki are a pair of caught Warasubo spine toothed fish, one with a mouse foraging on the top of its body. The mud flats of Japan’s Ariake Sea are home to a creature that is reportedly as delicious as it is disgusting-looking. Introducing the “Warasubo”, an eel-like xenomorph goby fish that for obvious reasons is known as the “Alien of Ariake Sea”, found in a large bay in Kyushu,

The fuchi kashira tsuka fittings are a pair of Edo period iron Higo school inset with silver droplets either representing a heavenly constellation, or snowflakes falling at night.

Made and used in the time of the greatest battle in samurai history. The Battle of Sekigahara Sekigahara no Tatakai) was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. Initially, Tokugawa's eastern army had 75,000 men, while Ishida's western army numbered 120,000. Tokugawa had also sneaked in a supply of arquebuses. Knowing that Tokugawa was heading towards Osaka, Ishida decided to abandon his positions and marched to Sekigahara. Even though the Western forces had tremendous tactical advantages, Tokugawa had already been in contact with many daimyo in the Western Army for months, promising them land and leniency after the battle should they switch sides.

Tokugawa's forces started the battle when Fukushima Masanori, the leader of the advance guard, charged north from Tokugawa's left flank along the Fuji River against the Western Army's right centre. The ground was still muddy from the previous day's rain, so the conflict there devolved into something more primal. Tokugawa then ordered attacks from his right and his centre against the Western Army's left in order to support Fukushima's attack.

This left the Western Army's centre unscathed, so Ishida ordered this unit under the command of Shimazu Yoshihiro to reinforce his right flank. Shimazu refused as daimyos of the day only listened to respected commanders, which Ishida was not.

Recent scholarship by Professor Yoshiji Yamasaki of Toho University has indicated that the Mori faction had reached a secret agreement with the Tokugawa two weeks earlier, pledging neutrality at the decisive battle in exchange for a guarantee of territorial preservation, and was a strategic decision on Mori Terumoto's part that later backfired.

Fukushima's attack was slowly gaining ground, but this came at the cost of exposing their flank to attack from across the Fuji River by Otani Yoshitsugu, who took advantage of this opportunity. Just past Otani's forces were those of Kobayakawa Hideaki on Mount Matsuo.

Kobayakawa was one of the daimyos that had been courted by Tokugawa. Even though he had agreed to defect to Tokugawa's side, in the actual battle he was hesitant and remained neutral. As the battle grew more intense, Tokugawa finally ordered arquebuses to fire at Kobayakawa's position on Mount Matsuo to force Kobayakawa to make his choice. At that point Kobayakawa joined the battle as a member of the Eastern Army. His forces charged ?tani's position, which did not end well for Kobayakawa. Otani's forces had dry gunpowder, so they opened fire on the turncoats, making the charge of 16,000 men mostly ineffective. However, he was already engaging forces under the command of Todo Takatora, Kyogoku Takatsugu, and Oda Yuraku when Kobayakawa charged. At this point, the buffer Otani established was outnumbered. Seeing this, Western Army generals Wakisaka Yasuharu, Ogawa Suketada, Akaza Naoyasu, and Kutsuki Mototsuna switched sides, turning the tide of battle

The top section of the blade, near the kissaki has two very small areas of natural age pitting  read more

Code: 25237

The Lanes Armoury, Described To Us Every Day, By Hundreds of Our Daily Visitors, Including, By President Ronald Reagan Over 40 Years Ago, As, Probably, The Most Amazing & Very Best Shop In Britain & Especially Featured in The New York Times

Thousands of worldwide visitors to the UK come to visit us here, every day {except Sunday} of every week, and the most consistent, much appreciated and most kind comment includes they believe we are the most amazing, incredible and interesting shop in Britain, just like a museum, but, everything is for sale! If we were a UK National museum, we would likely be the very smallest, but, we contain thousands upon thousands of original collectables and books, ancient, antique and vintage from a 20 million year old megaladon shark's tooth, to a samurai sword made almost 800 years ago {we have at any one time, up to 350 original samurai antique swords in stock to view, apparently the largest original selection to be seen for sale in any shop in the world }. From an Ancient Greek 'Wreath, or Crown Of Victory' in solid hammered gold, made around 2300 years ago from the time of Alexander the Great, to many cased duelling pistols, and numerous cased Georgian and Victorian sporting guns, all with their original tools, made for a prince, or a fantastic selection of original French sabres used by Napoleon’s generals and commanders of his Imperial Garde, to a 1st Edition 'Great Gatsby', and several various James Bond or Charles Dickens Ist Editions.

We always try to have an intriguing selection of Ist Editions, for example this month you can view and buy, rare James Bond 1st Edition books, Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan Ist editions, alongside Bull-Dog Drummonds, and, up to 2,000 other history based books in stock, all vintage and hardback. We also stock antique magical and witchcraft pieces, wondrous artefacts, many arcane or esoteric, such as a collection of amazing African Congo ‘fetish’ and so-called voodoo statues, many near identical to those in the `Rockefeller Collection in the Met in New York, or, an incredibly rare ancient Hun or Visigoths Life-stone mounted sword, around 1,600 years old, reputedly imbued with magic powers to enable its warrior owner to be protected or healed from fatal wounds inflicted by their ancient Roman combat adversaries, also, a stunning early 19th century Witch Ball, mounted upon an Ancient Greek bronze ‘after the antique’ statue of Atlas, and each piece can be with a history that could likely be beyond compare.

Twenty four years ago, after 80 years of their family’s trading in Brighton, the Lanes Armoury was honoured by being Nominated & Awarded by BACA, In The Best Antique & Collectables Shop In Britain Awards 2001
Presented by MILLER'S Antiques Guide, THE BBC, HOMES & ANTIQUES MAGAZINE, for the British Antique & Collectables Awards. The version of the antique dealers ‘Oscars’ of Britain.

It was a great honour for Mark and David, especially considering at the beginning of the new millennium, in the year 2000, there was over 7,000 established antique and collectors shops in the UK, according to the official Guide to the Antique Shops of Britain, 1999-2000, that we were nominated, and voted into in the top four, out of 7,000 other antique shops, within the whole of Great Britain.

We were also very kindly described and listed as one of the most highly recommended visitors attractions in the whole of Europe {and thus the UK} by nothing less than the 'New York Times ' within their travel guide "New York Times, 36 Hours, 125 Weekends in Europe. However, this is not the sort of intimidating gallery that you may find in the most exclusive parts of London or Paris, where each room may only have a few, well lit, exclusive pieces with six and seven figure price tags. We are more like a Dickensian, ancient spell-book and magic shop, within our ancient narrow Brighton Lanes, just like Diagon Alley, as one may find within the pages of Harry Potter {by the genius author J.K Rowling} with glass cases overflowing with thousands of flintlocks, artefacts and antiquities, and thousands upon thousands of antique swords, rifles and muskets, mounted upon numerous heaving racks affixed upon the guards red painted walls, rising up from floor to ceiling. Glorious antique helmets by the dozen, piled high upon cabinets, and thousands of books stacked up on the floor and in cabinets and upon desks. Plus of course we have the ubiquitous original old ghost books, volumes on spells, sorcery and magic, and original, ancient pagan, mystical charms.

In the previous 104 years, our family’s past and present clients have included some highly fascinating people from all fields of interest, such as, Hollywood & British legends, of film and theatre, royalty, aristocracy, and academics in all fields, including curators of museums such as the British museum and likely the most famous and very first museum in the world, The Tower of London, and politicians of all types, and from all manner of countries around the world. For example, in the 1970’s {before Mark’s experience serving President Reagan} he was introduced to late great Garfield {Garry} Weston, Canadian billionaire, one of the world’s most famous philanthropists and owner of Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly London, whereupon Mark supplied Garry with finest antique Meissen porcelains thereafter for his antique department in Fortnums. He also had the incredible good fortune to meet the genius writer, artiste, actor and raconteur. Barry Humphries {aka Dame Edna Everidge}. After a glorious afternoon of entertainment, wit and wisdom imparted by Barry, Mark sold to him a fabulous rare piece of Art Nouveau for his collection. And on one extraordinary visit to our shop, in October 1970, when Mark was present {but still, at the time, studying at Brighton College } David snr and Camilla {Mark and David jnr’s mother} were visited by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. With their intention to buy a mansion house from David and Camilla {for Elizabeth’s ex-husband Michael Wilding} but, remarkably, resulted in Elizabeth selling to Camilla her own Rolex watch, just in order to annoy and anger Richard {as intensely as possible, and needless to say, it was remarkably successful}

Our oldest regular collector is now over 103 years old, and our most regular customer has been coming to us for over 78 years! Every month over 60,000 of our regular followers around the world request our weekly stock updates by our updates email. and it is so easy to join in with them, just go to our home page, enter your regular email address in the box, and click go!. you will then get an update email every weekend, {if you don't, just check your spam or junk box.}

Every single item from The Lanes Armoury is accompanied by our unique Certificate of Authenticity. Part of our continued dedication to maintain the standards forged by us over the past 100 plus years or more of our family’s trading.

The autographed photographs in the gallery, one from President Reagan, that was taken in the Oval Office in The White House and was very kindly given to Mark during his visit in the 1980’s. and the two certificates from The BACA Awards, and The New York Times.

Plus, in the gallery, a photo of Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton arriving at Brighton Railway Station in October 1970, prior to their visit to our shop to see Mark and David’s parents.  read more

Code: 22898

A Stunning and Impressively Powerful Koto Katana, Circa 1500. With All Original Edo Period Koshirae Mountings. A Fabulous Sword of Likely a Seieibushi {the Highest Ranked Elite Samurai} Traditionally the Highest Rank of Elite Samurai

Originally made around 500 years ago for a samurai of considerable size and status befitting a sword of this power and presence. Photos of the blade to add Friday 12th

It bears a beautfully fine Koto blade, around 1500, yet, most rarely it shows it is ubu {unshortened} and it displays a very fine suguha hamon, very much the usual tradition during the Koto period.

Most blades of this age have had some element of shortening, which is entirely usual, and most normal.
Shortening most commonly occurs when a successor to the original katana owner, another samurai, was shorter than his predecessor, and thus so on, and thefore needs the blade slightly shortened {always from the bottom of the nakago under the hilt upwards, even if it’s just by an inch or so}. Very ancient blades can often show evidence of several shortenings, by the presence of numerous mekugi ana interspaced down the tang.

The all original Edo period mounts, fuchi kashira, are Higo style in tetsu, decorated with a takebori cormorant fisherman carrying his catch to market, on the fuchi, and his hanging nets on the kashira. The tsuba, also in finely aged tetsu, tsuchime, with very delicate Amidayasuri filemarks, or carving, representing the halo emanating from Amida Buddha, is very beautiful, impressive and signed, with two, most unusually still present, narrow bars of sinchu bordering the inner kogai hitsu-ana and kozuka hitsu-ana, these are more than often lost .
It appears the mei {signature} on the tsuba is 山吉 or Yamakichi bei who was originally an armour smith from Owari or modern Nagoya area.
The shodai worked around the same time as the first Nobuie (end of Muromachi) and nearly as highly regarded, but this example may well be later. Pale gold tsukaito silk binding over pure gold decorated shakudo menuki on the samegawa {giant rayskin}.

The saya is traditional and original Edo period, brown urushi, ishime style, stone finish lacquer, in very fine condition, and the saya is mounted with a Higo sayajiri depicting a dragon in light takebori tettsu.

When one considers this sword was carried by successive samurai from the British timeline of the Tudor kings, starting with King Henry VIIth, King Henry VIIIth’s father, it is in simply remarkable condition. We doubt of there is a single solitary example of a European sword of this great age, preserved anywhere near as well as this blade, that is appearing almost as new.


The samurai were roughly the equivalent of feudal knights. Employed by the Shogun or Daimyo, they were members of hereditary warrior class that followed a strict "code" that defined their clothes, armour and behaviour on the battlefield. But unlike most medieval knights, samurai warriors could read and they were well versed in Japanese art, literature and poetry.
Samurai endured for almost 700 years, from 1185 to 1867. Samurai families were considered the elite. They made up only about six percent of the population and included daimyo and the loyal soldiers who fought under them. Samurai means one who serves."

Samurai were expected to be both fierce warriors and lovers of art, a dichotomy summed up by the Japanese concepts of to stop the spear expanding into bushido (the way of life of the warrior) and bun (the artistic, intellectual and spiritual side of the samurai). Originally conceived as away of dignifying raw military power, the two concepts were synthesised in feudal Japan and later became a key feature of Japanese culture and morality.The quintessential samurai was Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary early Edo-period swordsman who reportedly killed 60 men before his 30th birthday and was also a painting master. Members of a hierarchal class or caste, samurai were the sons of samurai and they were taught from an early age to unquestionably obey their mother, father and daimyo. When they grew older they may be trained by Zen Buddhist masters in meditation and the Zen concepts of impermanence and harmony with nature. The were also taught about painting, calligraphy, nature poetry, mythological literature, flower arranging, and the tea ceremony.

it has been said that part of their military training, samurai were taught to sleep with their right arm underneath them so if they were attacked in the middle of the night and their the left arm was cut off the could still fight with their right arm. Samurai that tossed and turned at night were cured of the habit by having two knives placed on either side of their pillow.

Samurai have been describes as "the most strictly trained human instruments of war to have existed." They were expected to be proficient in the martial arts of aikido and kendo as well as swordsmanship and archery---the traditional methods of samurai warfare---which were viewed not so much as skills but as art forms that flowed from natural forces that harmonized with nature.
An individual didn't become a full-fledged samurai until he wandered around the countryside as begging pilgrim for a couple of years to learn humility. When this was completed they achieved samurai status and receives a salary from his daimyo paid from taxes (usually rice) raised from the local populace. Swords in Japan have long been symbols of power and honour and seen as works of art. 40 inches long overall, blade tsuba to tip, 28.5 inches  read more

Code: 25215

A Superb Spencer Carbine, The Best Carbine Rifle of the American Civil War, & The Wild West. One of The 500 Guns Of The ‘Colorado Shipment’ & Used In The ‘Post Colorado War’ Indian Wars, Between the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho, & Brulé and Oglala Sioux

An absolutely cracking example in superb condition for age, probably one of the best we have seen in years, and comparable or possibly better to one we had last year, which was, until then, the finest we had seen anywhere in the last 10 years. Complete with its removable and reloadable magazine. Serial numbered 33k range.

It bears a US inspector’s cartouche stamp on the stock, and that particular inspector is seen on the Colorado issue range, within the 33k serial numbered guns, this is rare in that only 500 carbines from this serial numbered range were transferred to the Colorado territory, and this is only the second we have ever seen, both in that rarely seen 33k serial number sequence.

Colorado, in the world famous Rocky Mountains aka ‘The Rockies’, was at the very heart of what is known today as the “Wild West’ period, and it went through an incredible series of historical events at this time, it was not granted statehood till August 1st 1876, as President Andrew Jackson vetoed it in 1865, it had an amazing and violent ‘Gold Rush’ period during the war, and it was experiencing all manner of difficulties and dangers regarding the breaking of the Fort Laramie Treaty, which became known as the the Colorado War, between the warring Native American tribes, such as between the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho, and allied Brulé and Oglala Sioux. It became the centre of so many Hollywood ‘Wild West’ films in the entire 20th century, in the telling of the stories of Colorado and ‘The Rockies’ that one way or another it became one of the most famous territories and states of America around the world.

In modern movie times the 1860 Spencer Rifle was used by Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman in ‘The Unforgiven’ and in ‘3.10 to Yuma’ by Christin Bale

The Spencer was the most advanced infantry weapon in the world of its times, it was patented in 1860 by Christian Spencer, a machinist who worked in Hartford. Conn. For Sharps and developed the Spencer on his own time. We are offering this simply superb example that is in great condition for its age. This carbine was a fundamental game changer of the entire Civil War. Although Confederates captured some of these weapons, the South's armament industry was unable to manufacture much of the ammunition due to a shortage of copper. It is only a small exaggeration to state that this cartridge decided the outcome of the Civil War.
Col. John T. Wilder said of them:"Hoover's Gap was the first battle where the Spencer repeating rifle had ever been used, and in my estimation they were better weapons that has yet taken their place, being strong and not easily injured by the rough usage of army movements, and carrying a projectiile that disabled any man who was unlucky enough to be hit by it." One of his soldiers wrote about the Spencer that it "never got out of repair. It would shoot a mile just as accurately as the finest rifle in the world. It was the easiest gun to handle in the manual of arms drill I have ever seen. It could be taken all to pieces to clean, and hence was little trouble to keep in order -- quite an item to lazy soldiers." According to Smith Aktins, a colonel in Wilder's regiment, it was "the best arm for service in the field ever invented, better than any other arm in the world then or now, so simple in its mechanism that it never got out of order, and was always ready for instant service.".

Major-General James H. Wilson, who was instrumental in crushing Hood at Nashville (15-16 Dec. 1864) and defeated Forrest at Selma (2 April 1865), wrote the following about them: "There is no doubt that the Spencer carbine is the best fire-arm yet put into the hands of the soldier, both for economy of ammunition and maximum effect, physical and moral. Our best officers estimate one man armed with it is equivalent to three with any other arm. I have never seen anything else like the confidence inspired by it in the regiments or brigades which have it. A common belief amongst them is if their flanks are covered they can go anywhere. I have seen a large number of dismounted charges made with them against cavalry, infantry, and breast-works, and never knew one to fail. It was the world's first practical repeater and fired a .52 calibre metallic rimfire cartridge (patented by Smith & Wesson in 1854 and perfected by Henry in the late 1850's} which completely prevented gas leakage from the back because the brass casing expanded on ignition to seal the chamber. It had a "rolling block" (actually a rotating block) activated by lowering the trigger guard. This movement opened the breech and extracted the spent cartridge. Raising the lever caused a new cartridge, pushed into position by a spring in the 7-round magazine, to be locked into the firing chamber. The 7-round magazine was located in the stock.
The Spencer was easy to manufacture (given the requisite industrial infrastructure), had relatively few parts, many of which were in common with the Sharps rifles, and was cheaper than other repeaters on the market such as the Henry. It also turned out to be extremely reliable under battlefield conditions. Its great advantage over the muzzle loading rifles such as the Enfields and Springfields lay not only in the rapidity of fire, but also in the ability of the shooter to aim each shot. In a normal battle situation, the muzzle loaders were fired in an aimed manner only the first few shots, thereafter it was usually a case of hurried fire after frantic loading. A trained soldier could get off two or three shots a minute with them until the barrel fouled with lead deposit. With the Spencer the soldier could fire 20 to 30 times a minute when necessary, taking advantage of the cartridge box which held 10 preloaded magazines. The only disadvantage of the Spencers was the relatively small powder charge in the cartridge which limited its range. Some marksmen therefore preferred the single shot Sharps breechloader which used paper or linen cartridges with a larger powder charge and had greater range. With the Sharps you could fire about 10 times a minute. But for the cavalry which fought mostly at close range, the Spencer was the weapon of choice.

Introduced in Jan. 1862, it found its first major use by Col. John Wilder's Indiana "Lightning Brigade" of mounted infantry at Hoover's Gap during the Tullahoma Campaign (22 June - 3 July 1863). The firepower and speed of this unit overwhelmed Wheeler's cavalry guarding the southern end of this pass and allowed George H. Thomas's 14th infantry corps to place itself on the flank of the Confederate General Hardee. This sudden development misled Hardee into thinking he had been outflanked by the entire Union Army of the Cumberland, and he retreated without orders back to Tullahoma, 15 miles in his rear. Wilder then spearheaded the turning movement to the east of Tullahoma, and this in turn undermined Bragg's entire defensive line, and he had to pull back into Chattanooga. At the price of about 500 casualties the Union Army advanced 100 miles and made military history. Later, at the battle of Chickamauga (19-20 Sept. 1863), his troops used them with decisive effect on the first day, keeping Bragg's troops from cutting the road to Chattanooga, and slowing Longstreet's attack on the second day. This is the scarcer Burnside Spencer Repeating Rifle Contract Carbine,

Made in Providence Rhode Island This specimen is one of the Burnside Contract, making it much scarcer and thus rarer than those standard carbines made by the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company. Out of the 34,000 made by Burnside, over 30,000 were purchased by the U.S. government, which in gun production numbers, during this period, 30,000 was a most small contract indeed.

On October 16, 1868, 500 Burnside Contract Spencer Carbines were transferred by the Ordnance Department to the Colorado Territory. The Ordnance inspector cartouche remain visible on the left side of the stock behind the sling ring bar, this particular Ordnance stamp is also the ones used for the 500 Colorado Territory guns shipment.

Thousands of people had flooded into Colorado between 1858-1861 trying to find quick riches. As a result, the Colorado territory was born. This was the first time that a concentrated group of people had began to settle the region. It was almost immediately filled with wealth, trade, and rail transportation. By 1865, more than 1 million ounces of gold had been found. But this now overpopulated area had spilt out and violated an already unstable situation; The Treaty of Fort Laramie had been broken. The Treaty was meant to establish boundaries and offer peace, internally and externally, among both the United States and Natives. The American miners settling on the Native land only exaggerated the existing conflicts between tribes. The result ended up being years of war between multiple tribes and the U.S. Government, in what is now known as the Colorado War.
As the conflicts ceased, population growth flourished, and resources kept flowing, the territory became a state on August 1, 1876. Colorado could have been a state a little sooner if President Andrew Jackson didn’t issue a veto against the statehood in 1865. A lot of American history happened in a short span of time. Colorado played a huge role in the history of the American West, making the potential of this rifle in our opinion very special indeed.
As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables  read more

Code: 23152

A Simply Stunning Edo Period Mighty Samurai Armour and Helmet Piercer Tanto, Around 250 Years Old. An Absolute Beautiful Example of Samurai Sword Artistry & Skill

The blade is utterly amazing, with a great gunome hamon, superb grain in the hada, and powerful blade designed to pierce the strongest kabuto, iron plate war helmet, or even the strongest part of any gosuko armour, being an incredible 8 mm thick at the habaki.
Fully mounted with all its original Edo fuchi kashira decorated with takebori rabbits and reeds. Pure gold and silver rabbits on a shakudo nanako ground, with pure gold reeds. Pure gold menuki of shi shi lion dogs, under original edo black silk tsuka-itol.

It has a kozuka decorated on shakudo and gold of a herd of frolicking ponies . Original Edo period urushi lacquer ishime style, stone finish, lacquer saya with polished carved buffalo horn fittings. The only signs of age wear is on the lacquer saya, with three or four very small surface dings and slight blistering by the mid section on one side. The habaki is superb in shakudo. The tsuba is an iron tetsu oval inlaid with puer gold, with surface decoration of stylized serpent like beasts with gold stars both large and small with a pair of gold fronted seppa.

This would make a fabulous addition to any fine collection of original antique samurai weaponry or armour

Rabbits are one of the signs of the Japanese zodiac. They are considered lucky as the Japanese kanji used to write the word rabbit is similar to the kanji meaning "get rid of " or "make vanish". People believe that rabbits will make bad luck disappear! Rabbits are also known for jumping high. They can leap over nine feet! Rabbits symbolize everything going up in your life - improvement and success.

THE LANES ARMOURY, THE PREMIER HOME OF ORIGINAL AND AFFORDABLE ANCIENT ANTIQUITIES & ANTIQUE COLLECTABLES IN BRITAIN.

The Lanes Armoury, is world renown as Britain's favourite specialist collectors shop, and also a font of historical and educational information that is detailed with every single item. We detail each piece alongside its historical context, either generic or specific, for those that may wish to read, learn, or be informed, as opposed to simply acquire collectable items. We are probably one of the oldest companies of our kind in the whole of Europe and we have been established through generations, as specialists in armoury, military antiques, militaria collectables, and specialist books, since the early 1900’s, and thus we have continued to be one of the largest in the world today. The current partners were set on this path by their great grandfather, who while intrigued by historic antique arms and armour, was woefully under capitalised for his dream profession, so much so that even when starting his very small business, just after the first world war, he still kept up his original working class pre war trade as a scaffolder as his safety net in case his dreams folded. Just as well for his succeeding generations, he didn’t fail. However, true to his very old-fashioned working class ethics, every subsequent generation had to follow their own path, with no financial assistance whatsoever, with his son, grandson and great-grandsons having to make their own way, on their own skill and merits, whatever they may be.
We are also very pleased to know we are also studied and read by academics and students from hundreds of universities around the world, by those that are interested in not only British but worldwide history. Of course we are not perfect and errors can and will be made, but thanks to our viewers and visitors, errors can be corrected, and learnt from.
Our sacred principle is that every single country's history ought to be studied, and passed down, however good, or bad some of it may be. All history is knowledge, good, bad or indifferent.

Everyday we are contacted by historians that wish to make contributions to our detailed information for our pieces, and to thus add to our constant dedication to impart historical knowledge, that may be unknown to many of our millions of viewers.

As once told to us by an esteemed regular visitor to us here in our gallery, in order to view and study our Japanese edged weapons and armour gallery, and the same words that are repeated in his book;

“In these textures lies an extraordinary and unique feature of the sword - the steel itself possesses an intrinsic beauty. The Japanese sword has been appreciated as an art object since its perfection some time during the tenth century AD. Fine swords have been more highly prized than lands or riches, those of superior quality being handed down from generation to generation. In fact, many well-documented swords, whose blades are signed by their makers, survive from nearly a thousand years ago. Recognizable features of the blades of hundreds of schools of sword-making have been punctiliously recorded, and the study of the sword is a guide to the flow of Japanese history.”
Victor Harris
Curator, Assistant Keeper and then Keeper (1998-2003) of the Department of Japanese Antiquities at the British Museum. He studied from 1968-71 under Sato Kenzan, Tokyo National Museum and Society for the Preservation of Japanese Swords

Blade 12 inches long  read more

Code: 24380

A Stunning and Fine Edo Period Antique Nanban Iron and Gold Sukashi Tsuba with Pagoda Scene

Superb Nanban tsuba in Iron and gold highlights Landscape scene of a pagoda, bridge, prunus tree and river.
Nanban often regarded as meaning Southern Barbarian, are very much of the Chinese influence. The Chinese influence on this group of tsuba was of more import than the Western one, however, and resulted not merely in the utilisation of fresh images by the existing schools, but also in the introduction of a
completely fresh style of metalworking.
The term 'namban' was also used by the Japanese to describe an iron of foreign origin.
Neither can the Namban group be considered to represent 'native Japanese art'.
The required presence in the group, by definition, of 'foreign influence', together with the possibility of their being 'foreign made', was probably responsible for their great popularity at the time.

Tsuba are usually finely decorated, and are highly desirable collectors' items in their own right. Tsuba were made by whole dynasties of craftsmen whose only craft was making tsuba. They were usually lavishly decorated. In addition to being collectors items, they were often used as heirlooms, passed from one generation to the next. Japanese families with samurai roots sometimes have their family crest (mon) crafted onto a tsuba. Tsuba can be found in a variety of metals and alloys, including iron, steel, brass, copper and shakudo. In a duel, two participants may lock their katana together at the point of the tsuba and push, trying to gain a better position from which to strike the other down.
68mm x 72mm  read more

Code: 24078