Katana (sword)

Culture Japanese

Date1859

Mediumsteel, brass and copper alloys, wood, ray skin, silk, and cord

DimensionsBlade: 94 × 88.9 cm (37 × 35 in.), 1 lb, 10 oz (weight)
Grip: 3 × 23 cm (1 3/16 × 9 1/16 in.)
Tsuba: 7.3 × 6 cm (2 7/8 × 2 3/8 in.)

ClassificationsArms and Armor

Credit LineThe John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection

Terms

Object number2014.334.1

DescriptionOutside has dragon horimono; inside has floral horimono. Wide guname hamon.

Tsuba of quatrefoil form with floral decoration; iron with shakudo and other darkened copper alloys. Photo in digital file.
Label TextNowhere did the search for the perfect swordsmithing technique go farther than in Japan. The traditional katana is produced by sandwiching a tough iron core inside a hard steel edge. Once the blade is shaped, it is coated with a clay mixture, and a part of the clay scraped away along the edge. The blade is then heated, and plunged into a cooling liquid. The exposed edge cools quickly, converting into a hard “martensite” steel. The coated portion cools more slowly so that the spine of the blade is less hard and brittle. Prior to heat treatment, the swordsmith nicks the clay to keep it from breaking off during the treatment. This process is integrated into the esthetic of the blade, as the smith’s distinctive pattern of nicks creates the decorative line, or hamon, between the misty martensite at the edge and the brighter slow-quenched steel toward the spine. ProvenanceGift of Mrs. Edgar F. Waterman on September 19, 1983. Collection transfer from Higgins Armory, January 2014.

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