This is a beautiful tanto by the Shinto smith Sadatsugu of Echizen.  The hada is a serene but beautiful  dense itame with mokume. There is much ji-nie that shows very vibrant on this sword. The hamon is a sublime hitatsura with a smooth nioi-guchi. The hamon  is extremely well-made and a high-quality. Heading to the overall beauty this sword. This blade is in a pristine  sashikomi polish which adds to the brilliant look of this tanto. The  yasurime is katte sagari and the nakago-jiri is Kengyo in shape. This blade is ubu with one mekugi-ana and a long signature. This blade is flawless. Shinto tanto are quite rare and this one is visually stunning to look at. The entire packade is a great piece for the collector and comes with an older set of NBTHK papers.

The koshirae is also very special. The saya is beautiful larger abalone shells suspended in lacquer. The Abalone shells are all similar in size and present as stunning backdrop for this sword. Some splitting on the edge of the saya is visible but overall it’s in very good shape.  The tsuka ito is a blue that matches with the sageo perfectly. The tsuba is of iron in an Owari Sukashi style. The fuchi kashira is matching and with a gold motif of Sakura flowers. The menuki are of Wasps or Bees and there is an iron kodzuka of bugs also. The habaki is an older gold washed two piece with fan shaped window on the lower piece. The seppa are gilded.

Fujishiro rates this smith as “Chu-Jo Saku”. Its a high rating for a shinto smith and a rare tanto.  Few tanto were made during this time

SADATSUGU HYÛGA NO DAIJÔ [KANBUN 1661 ECHIZEN] SHINTÔ CHÛJÔSAKU
 His style resembles that of Harima no Daijô Shigetaka, and his works extend from Kan’ei to Kanbun.
Signatures:            the title
                              ECHIZEN JÛ HYÛGA NO KAMI FUJIWARA SADATSUGU