Long katana sword

Japan, around 1900

Hardened steel and coloured metals. Single fullered blade; rayskin (shagreen) and black braided hilt; wooden sheath with metal ornamentation and metal kojiri ending; metal kashira hilt cap inlaid with rayskin; oval tsuba bearing a dragon in the clouds in relief; kozuka decorated with a gold lioness in nanako relief.

L: 76.5 cm

O 1102

The long katana sword together with a matching short wakizashi sword form a daisho, the traditional weapon of the samurai. Katana swords have curved blades and are composed of several parts: the handle or hilt (tsuka), hilt cap (kashira), collar (fuchi), handguard (tsuba), steel blade, sheath (saya), and short knife (kogatana) in the sheath with a decorative handle (kozuka).