The drawPathsWarriorsSteelArmoryRecordCommission
Nagasa0.0 cm
Hunting / Fighting / Samurai
By introduction

A private house for blades that matter. Forged, collected and commissioned in private.

BULCIT

A samurai in full armour, from a photograph by Felice Beato, drawn in ink
Nukitsuke

The draw.

Kiritsuke

The cut.

Noto

The return.

Five paths.
One edge.

A hunting knife standing in a stump, drawn in inkHuntingDrop points and skinners for cold hands. A fixed blade fighting knife, drawn in inkFightingFixed blades with balance you can feel. An elder holding a katana, drawn in inkSamuraiNihonto and the long patience behind them. An antique folding pocket knife with an inlaid handle, drawn in inkPocketFolders in gold, platinum and stone. A diving knife in its sheath, drawn in inkDivingTitanium and steel for salt water.
Yoshitoshi, 1868 / Beato, 1860s

One hundred
warriors

Mori Ranmaru, woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Mori RanmaruPage to Oda Nobunaga. Fought to the end at Honno-ji, 1582.
Inoue Gorobei raising his sword, woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Inoue GorobeiSword raised beside a stone lantern.
A samurai holding a drawn sword, photograph by Felice Beato
YokohamaA samurai with his sword drawn, photographed in the 1860s.
Hida no Tatewaki, woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Hida no TatewakiFrom Yoshitoshi's hundred selected warriors.
Miki Ushinosuke dodging bullets, woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Miki UshinosukeTurning away from the bullets.
Sakai Kyuzo throwing a spear, woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Sakai KyuzoThe spear thrown, the sword still sheathed.
A giant skeleton spectre looming over two warriors, from a print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, drawn in ink

Steel outlives
everyone.

Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c. 1844.
Folded 0times Layers 1
Hardness, typical range (HRC)
1095
56-58
CPM S30V
58-61
VG-10
60-61
Shirogami 1
61-63
Aogami Super
63-64
525864

Sixty duels.
Never lost.

Miyamoto Musashi, 1584 to 1645. He wrote it himself, in The Book of Five Rings: more than sixty fights, from the age of thirteen, and not one lost.

Miyamoto Musashi on the back of a giant whale, from a triptych by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, drawn in ink
A blade from the armory, drawn in ink
On its stand. Two shaku and more of folded steel.
Sold at auction

The record.

The highest prices ever paid for a blade, and the sales that set them.

A long curved Japanese tachi blade, drawn in ink
No. 1 samurai sword at auction Kamakura blade $418,000 13th century. Christie's New York, 1992, from the Compton collection: a world record for a Japanese work of art at the time. A sword of this rank is offered privately. Enquire →
  1. Two Mughal daggers with jade hilts, drawn in ink
    DaggerShah Jahan's dagger$3,375,000Mughal, about 1620 to 1630. Christie's New York, 2019.
  2. Theodore Roosevelt's silver-mounted Bowie knife and scabbard, drawn in ink
    HuntingTheodore Roosevelt's hunting knife$414,000Presented in 1909, gold and platinum by Dreicer & Co. Rock Island Auction, 2016: the most ever paid for an American knife.
  3. An antique folding pocket knife, drawn in ink
    PocketAl Capone's diamond pocket knife$78,650Platinum, with twenty diamonds spelling AL. Witherell's, 2021, against an estimate of $5,000.

Drawings show blades of the same kind. Prices include buyer's premium where reported.

Wrapped
by hand.

Commission
a blade.

Tell us what you have in mind. A bladesmith writes back, privately.

Private commission
Received.A bladesmith will write to you privately.