Edo Period Menuki Pair: Naginata with Sode Armor & Fan Sheathed Sword Shakudō Gold Details LS104

Antique Japanese Menuki Pair — Naginata with Sode Armor and Fan over Sword
Japan, Edo period (18th–19th century)

This evocative pair of Edo-period menuki presents a deeply symbolic dialogue between masculine and feminine emblems. On one side, a naginata rests beneath a sode shoulder guard. The naginata, though fully martial, is culturally remembered as the favored weapon of samurai women, embodying grace combined with ferocity. The sode armor plate above it is an unambiguous emblem of the battlefield, standing for masculine martial duty.

The second menuki reverses this order: here a sheathed sword, the quintessential samurai weapon and masculine symbol, lies covered by a fan. The folding fan, with its broad gold-splashed surface, carries associations of refinement, performance, and feminine poise. In Noh theater and court life alike, the fan was an extension of elegance, yet in this context it also gently veils the blade.

Together, the pair becomes a striking meditation on gender, harmony, and duality within the samurai world. Both menuki are crafted in shakudō with gilt details, the fan and fittings highlighted with brilliant gold against the darkened ground. Subtle chiselwork captures the armor rivets, the fan ribs, and the texture of sword wrappings.

Condition: Patinated surfaces with light wear; gilding intact and warm-toned. Mounting prongs remain on the reverse.

Collectors will note the uncommon pairing of these motifs. Rather than straightforward martial imagery, these menuki encode a dialogue of balance: weapon and ornament, masculine and feminine, concealed and revealed. Their artistry suggests a workshop attuned to both elegance and allegory.

Details:

• Origin: Japan

• Period: Edo (18th–19th century)

• Materials: Shakudō, copper, gilt

• Size: approx. 4–5 cm each

• Motifs: Naginata with sode armor; fan over sheathed sword
  

LS104