{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "canonicalUrl": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/objects/mumei-tanto-study-01/",
  "recordUrl": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/objects/mumei-tanto-study-01/record.json",
  "accession": "NA 2026.012",
  "title": "Mumei Tantō Study I",
  "japaneseTitle": "無銘短刀 · 拵",
  "classification": {
    "category": "nihonto",
    "form": "tanto",
    "presentation": [
      "koshirae"
    ]
  },
  "period": "Period unrecorded · not established",
  "summary": "An unsigned 20.0 cm tantō in a red-flecked black lacquer aikuchi koshirae with nanako-ground fuchi, kashira and kojiri, retaining its kozuka and kogatana; two mekugi-ana, and a habaki that will not draw off.",
  "attribution": {
    "label": "Mumei · unattributed",
    "japanese": "無銘",
    "qualifier": "Unsigned; no attribution is proposed and no appraisal paper accompanies the blade"
  },
  "highlights": [
    {
      "label": "Nagasa",
      "value": "20.0 cm"
    },
    {
      "label": "Nakago",
      "value": "Two mekugi-ana"
    },
    {
      "label": "Condition",
      "value": "Old polish · unpapered"
    }
  ],
  "revisedOn": "2026-08-20",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "date": "2026-08-20",
      "note": "Catalogue record established from the ended listing and its 21 gallery photographs."
    }
  ],
  "hero": {
    "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/01.jpg",
    "alt": "Tantō drawn beside its red-flecked lacquer saya with the kozuka and kogatana laid above"
  },
  "sections": [
    {
      "title": "Object record",
      "facts": [
        {
          "label": "Item",
          "value": "Tantō (短刀) in aikuchi-style koshirae with kozuka"
        },
        {
          "label": "Mei",
          "value": "None · 無銘"
        },
        {
          "label": "Nagasa",
          "value": "20.0 cm"
        },
        {
          "label": "Sori",
          "value": "0.0 cm"
        },
        {
          "label": "Width",
          "value": "Motohaba 2.3 cm"
        },
        {
          "label": "Kasane",
          "value": "Motogasane 0.6 cm"
        },
        {
          "label": "Mekugi-ana",
          "value": "Two · both nakago faces photographed"
        },
        {
          "label": "Habaki",
          "value": "Copper · the source states it will not come off"
        },
        {
          "label": "Period",
          "value": "Unrecorded · no appraisal paper supplied"
        }
      ],
      "notes": [
        {
          "lead": "Attribution boundary.",
          "body": "The blade is unsigned and carries no paper; no smith, school, or period is proposed. Two mekugi-ana are present on a 20 cm tang. Multiple holes are consistent with remounting but do not by themselves establish that the blade was shortened, and nothing here decides the question."
        },
        {
          "lead": "Assembly note.",
          "body": "The source states that the habaki will not come off. The photographs show it seated tight with a visible seam on the mune side. Nothing should be forced: a habaki that has swollen or corroded onto the machi is removed by a togishi or with the blade properly supported, not by leverage."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Condition record",
      "facts": [
        {
          "label": "Photographs",
          "value": "Twenty-one archival photographs · no video"
        },
        {
          "label": "Documents",
          "value": "No registration card, NBTHK/NTHK paper, or other certificate shown"
        },
        {
          "label": "Completeness",
          "value": "Kozuka and kogatana present; sageo present"
        }
      ],
      "notes": [
        {
          "lead": "Visible record.",
          "body": "The polish is old but not spent: a soft, undulating bright-and-dark boundary runs the length of both faces and is legible in several frames. Dark cloudy patches and small reddish points sit within the darker area. The kogatana blade is heavily rusted. Nothing here classifies a defect."
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "plates": [
    {
      "number": "IV.1",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae & Ensemble",
      "title": "Ensemble with kozuka",
      "japanese": "拵・全体",
      "caption": "Everything the lot contains in one frame: the mounted blade, the red-flecked black lacquer saya with its brown sageo, and the kozuka with its kogatana withdrawn and laid above.",
      "alt": "Tantō blade, lacquer saya, sageo and the kozuka with kogatana laid out together",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/01.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.2",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae & Ensemble",
      "title": "Koshirae, housed",
      "japanese": "拵・全体",
      "caption": "The mounting closed. The saya lacquer is black with a dense red fleck through it; a dark horn kurikata carries the brown sageo, and the koiguchi meets the fuchi flush in the aikuchi manner with no guard standing proud.",
      "alt": "Complete koshirae with the blade housed and the sageo through the kurikata",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/21.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.3",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae & Ensemble",
      "title": "Kozuka in the saya",
      "japanese": "拵・全体",
      "caption": "The saya alone with the kozuka seated in its fitted pocket, its decorated face flush against the lacquer. This is the arrangement in which the kozuka is carried.",
      "alt": "The saya with the kozuka seated in its pocket and the sageo coiled beside",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/20.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.4",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae & Ensemble",
      "title": "Drawn beside the saya",
      "japanese": "拵・全体",
      "caption": "The blade drawn and laid alongside its saya, giving the proportion of the 20 cm blade to the mounting and showing the kozuka in its pocket at the same scale.",
      "alt": "Blade drawn and laid beside the housed saya with the kozuka in place",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/02.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "IV.5",
      "group": "IV",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae & Ensemble",
      "title": "Blade mounted · first face",
      "japanese": "拵・全体",
      "caption": "The blade assembled in its hilt: copper habaki, dark tsuba seated tight against the fuchi, and brown ito over white same with the menuki showing through the wrap.",
      "alt": "The blade assembled in its tsuka, first face",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/03.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.1",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Sugata & Nakago",
      "title": "Mounted · second face",
      "japanese": "姿・茎",
      "caption": "The mounted blade from the other side. A soft undulating boundary between bright and dark areas is visible along the blade even at this scale.",
      "alt": "The blade assembled in its tsuka, second face",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/04.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.2",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Sugata & Nakago",
      "title": "Full sugata · first face",
      "japanese": "姿・茎",
      "caption": "Full length out of the hilt. Nagasa 20.0 cm with no sori and a substantial 0.6 cm kasane (measurements per the source description). The copper habaki remains in place on the machi, and two mekugi-ana are visible in the tang.",
      "alt": "Full blade out of the hilt, first face, showing the tang and two holes",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/05.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.3",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Sugata & Nakago",
      "title": "Full sugata · second face",
      "japanese": "姿・茎",
      "caption": "Full length on the second face, again with no inscription anywhere on the tang. The tang tapers evenly and ends in a blunt angled jiri.",
      "alt": "Full blade, second face, tang and habaki in view",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/06.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.4",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Sugata & Nakago",
      "title": "Nakago · first face",
      "japanese": "姿・茎",
      "caption": "The tang at close range: two mekugi-ana of similar diameter set close together, uniform dark brown patina with lighter scuffing, and no trace of an inscription.",
      "alt": "Close view of the tang with two mekugi-ana and dark patina",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/07.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.5",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Sugata & Nakago",
      "title": "Nakago · second face",
      "japanese": "姿・茎",
      "caption": "The reverse of the tang, unsigned, with the same two holes and a rounded-off jiri. File marks are not resolved under the patina.",
      "alt": "Close view of the reverse tang face with the same two holes",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/08.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.6",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Sugata & Nakago",
      "title": "Habaki, edge-on",
      "japanese": "姿・茎",
      "caption": "The habaki photographed from the mune, where its wrapped seam is visible as a fine line. This is the fitting the source reports will not draw off.",
      "alt": "The habaki seen edge-on from the back edge, showing its seam",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/13.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.7",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Ji & Ha",
      "title": "Surface · above the habaki",
      "japanese": "地刃",
      "caption": "Immediately above the habaki. A bright band follows the edge and meets a dark grey upper area along a soft, slightly undulating line. Whether that line is a hamon is left for examination in hand.",
      "alt": "Blade surface above the habaki with a soft bright-to-dark boundary",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/09.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.8",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Ji & Ha",
      "title": "Surface · toward the point",
      "japanese": "地刃",
      "caption": "The forward half of the blade. The boundary keeps a fairly even width and continues into the point without an obvious break; small reddish points sit in the darker ground.",
      "alt": "Point half of the blade with the boundary running to the tip",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/10.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.9",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Ji & Ha",
      "title": "Surface · near the machi",
      "japanese": "地刃",
      "caption": "Near the machi under a cooler reflection, which lifts the dark area and shows fine scratching across the flat.",
      "alt": "Blade surface near the machi under a bluish reflection",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/11.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.10",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Ji & Ha",
      "title": "Point · dark exposure",
      "japanese": "地刃",
      "caption": "The point under a darker exposure, where the fukura and the outline of the tip read clearly against the ground. The tip is intact.",
      "alt": "Dark view of the point section",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/12.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "II.11",
      "group": "II",
      "groupTitle": "Ji & Ha",
      "title": "Point, near-edge-on",
      "japanese": "地刃",
      "caption": "A near-edge-on record of the point, showing the thickness carried forward on a 0.6 cm kasane blade and the clean line of the back edge.",
      "alt": "Near-edge-on view of the steel running out to the point",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/14.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "III.1",
      "group": "III",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae Fittings",
      "title": "Tsuka, tsuba & seppa",
      "japanese": "拵金具",
      "caption": "The dismounted fittings: the tsuka wrapped in brown ito over white same, a dark plate with a kozuka-hitsu cut through it and copper sekigane fitted in the nakago-ana, and two plain oval copper seppa.",
      "alt": "Wrapped tsuka with tsuba and two copper seppa laid below",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/15.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "III.2",
      "group": "III",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae Fittings",
      "title": "Menuki, fuchi & kashira",
      "japanese": "拵金具",
      "caption": "The tsuka from the other side. Two figural menuki sit under the wrap — one dark, one with copper and gold colouring — and the fuchi and kashira share a dense punched ground with a raised rim.",
      "alt": "The tsuka from the other side showing figural menuki and textured fuchi and kashira",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/16.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "III.3",
      "group": "III",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae Fittings",
      "title": "Koiguchi & tsuka mouth",
      "japanese": "拵金具",
      "caption": "The tsuka mouth and the saya's koiguchi photographed together, showing the fitted apertures and the kozuka standing proud of its pocket at the mouth of the scabbard.",
      "alt": "The open mouth of the tsuka and the koiguchi of the saya with the kozuka pocket",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/17.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "III.4",
      "group": "III",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae Fittings",
      "title": "Kojiri & kashira",
      "japanese": "拵金具",
      "caption": "The kojiri and the kashira side by side. Both carry the same dense punched ground within a plain raised border, which ties the scabbard end to the hilt fittings as one program.",
      "alt": "The kojiri end of the saya and the kashira, both with a dense punched ground",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/18.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    },
    {
      "number": "III.5",
      "group": "III",
      "groupTitle": "Koshirae Fittings",
      "title": "Kozuka & kogatana",
      "japanese": "拵金具",
      "caption": "The kozuka with its kogatana in place. The handle is a copper alloy worked in relief with a long bundled motif on a textured ground; the kogatana blade is heavily rusted along its whole length.",
      "alt": "The kozuka with its kogatana blade inserted, laid flat",
      "image": "https://zufu.whiskey.works/media/na-2026-012/19.jpg",
      "redacted": false
    }
  ],
  "rights": {
    "catalogue": "© 2026 whiskey.works",
    "photographs": "Courtesy of GN-1-Japan, used with permission. No downstream reproduction permission is granted."
  }
}