A CEREMONIAL KEN IN MOUNTS WITH TOKUGAWA MONS Japan, Edo period (1615-1868) The two-edged blade with ken-zukuri, the hamon is suguha, the hada is masame. The copper habaki with horizontal file marks. The oval sentoku tsuba is entirely openworked, the sentoku kashira and kojiri are each crafted in the form of an elephant head. The entire tsuka and parts of the lacquered wood saya with sentoku fittings, finely incised with scrolling leafy vines, and tokugawa mons. The elephant heads allude to one of the Three Sculptures of Nikko, the ‘Imagined Elephant', sculpted by an artist who had never seen an elephant before, in the Nikko Tosho-gu Shinto shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. LENGTH 53.5 cm (the blade) and 88 cm (total) Condition: The blade is in fair condition, with surface wear as well as minor fukure and ware, the edges with small chips. The mounting is in very good condition with minor wear and few small nicks as well as traces of silvering. Provenance: Austrian private collection.