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Antique Japanese Chato Wooden Doctors Sword, Octopus browse these categories for related items... All Items: Archives:Regional Art:Asian:Japanese: Pre 1920: item # 964322 Please refer to our stock # MOR2752 when inquiring.
The Kura 16-1 ShimoWakakusa-Cho Murasakino Kita-ku Kyoto 603-8234 tel.81-75-432-6980 Guest Book Sold, Thank you |
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| An unusual chato (tea room sword) in the shape of an octopus, its 8 legs stretched out in uniform with one curled back exposing the suckers. Eyes are intimated on one side, with an old chip where the breathing hole is opposite. About the neck is wrapped a faded silk chord. It is 22 inches (56 cm) long. It is said that these wooden swords were produced from the mid to late Edo period, in lieu of swords for those not allowed to carry weapons (all but samurai). During the Edo it is true that commoners wore them to ward off evildoers at night, generally heavier versions which would double as a truncheon, and later as statements of fashion akin to other sagemono. We have found however that their production lasted through the opening years of the 20th century, as long accustomed ornaments of fashion in the tea room (where even samurai were not allowed bladed weapons). To the repertoire of bokuto and doctors sword, we thus add the name Chato, or tea sword, as they were commonly referred to in Kyoto. As with other members of the sagemono group, they were most often made by carvers of Netsuke. This is from a collection of scholar items we are currently offering from the estate of a Kyoto family involved in literati and art movements from the later Edo period on. | ||||||||||||||
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