Cutting Edge: Japanese Swords in the British Museum /anglais - Softcover

Harris, Victor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0714124192 ISBN 13: 9780714124193

Verlag: BRITISH MUSEUM, 2005

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Reseña del editor:

In no other culture has the sword been developed to such a level of technological excellence and attained such a position of spiritual importance as in Japan. As a cutting weapon, the fully developed curved sword of the samurai is extremely effective. Complex traditional methods of forging, conducted according to the ancient precepts of reverence and cleanliness of the Shinto religion, impart these qualities to the swords. Countless varying hues and patterns of the crystalline structures of steel, which result from special methods of forging and heat treating, are visible on the surface of a finely polished blade. In these textures lies an extraordinary and unique feature of the sword - the steel itself possesses an intrinsic beauty. The Japanese sword has been appreciated as an art object since its perfection some time during the tenth century AD. Fine swords have been more highly prized than lands or riches, those of superior quality being handed down from generation to generation. In fact, many well-documented swords, whose blades are signed by their makers, survive from nearly a thousand years ago. Recognizable features of the blades of hundreds of schools of sword-making have been punctiliously recorded, and the study of the sword is a guide to the flow of Japanese history.

Biografía del autor:

Victor Harris recently retired as Keeper of the Department of Japanese Antiquities in the British Museum. He is a world expert on Japanese swords and is the author of Shinto: The Sacred Art of Ancient Japan and Japanese Imperial Craftsmen and co-author of Swords of the Samural and Japanese Art: Masterpieces in the British Museum.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: BRITISH MUSEUM
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0714124192
• ISBN 13: 9780714124193
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 160