Subject: 侍 samurai warrior
Culture: Japanese
Setting: Kamakura shogunate, Japan 1185-1333
Object: 太刀 tachi saber
Omdal Forge *
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Stone Gallery of Arms and Armor
"Blade for a Slung Sword (Tachi) Steel Attributed to Kunitoshi Kamakura period, 13th century"
Fang Sword *
* Royal Armouries Museum > Oriental Gallery
"Tachi Archaic mounts such as these were often used for wear in court. The decoration of wheels, swastikas, and thunderbolts on the hilt suggests this sword was made for presentation to a Buddhist temple. The blade is signed Mutsu no suke Fujiwara Hiromoto, a pupil of Suishinshi Masahide who died in 1843, aged 66. Japanese, dated 1826"
"Court sword (efu no dachi) This tachi, for wear at court, is in an archaic style derived from China. The hilt is decorated with the head of the mythical ho-o bird. The scabbard is a European replacement. Japanese, late Edo period."
