Marshal Badge and Marshal Sword of King George V

Unique badge in solid gold.
Presented to King George V by Prince Higashi-Fushimi Yorihito on behalf of the Emperor Taisho on October 29, 1918.

King George V’s appointment to the rank of Field Marshal of the Imperial Japanese Army (gensui rikugun-taisho) followed the appointment of the Emperor Taisho as a Field Marshal in the British Army on 1 January 1918. The badge and sword were presented to the king by Prince Higashi-Fushimi Yorihito, who travelled especially to Britain to make the presentation on behalf of the emperor. The prince’s arrival on 28 October was marked with appropriate ceremony, and the king and the Duke of Connaught met him at Paddington Station. The king described the investiture the following day in his diary: "At 10.0 Prince Yorihito presented me with the sword & badge of a Japanese Field Marshal in the throne room, a nice little ceremony, very well carried out."​

Silver, gold, enamel
64 x 42 mm

Obverse.

Reverse.

 

On the right

贈進 - Gift



大不列顛皇帝 - to the Emperor of Great Britain

 

On the left

ジョージ第五世陛下 - To His Majesty George V



嘉仁 - Yoshihito (Emperor Taishō)

 

His Gensuitō/Marshal Sword.

The blade is inscribed with the signature of Gassan Sadakazu, who in 1906 was appointed Imperial Household Artist (Teishitsu Gigei’in). The only published account of this blade speculates that it was in fact made by his son, Gassan Sadakatsu. This is based on the rather slim speculation that one stroke of the first character ‘Sada’ has been cut in a style more like that of Sadakatsu. However, it seems highly unlikely that a blade for such an important diplomatic gift would have been entrusted to the son and not made by the Imperial Craftsman himself.

Original case.