KIYOMIZU TEA BOWWL LS

Fujiwara Masahiro

KK542

Swords created before the Keicho era (1596 to 1615) are called koto (old swords), while those made after the era are called shinto (new swords). Osuminojo Masahiro was the best disciple of Horikawa Kunihiro, the founder of the shinto forge. Kunihiro, a swordsmith of Hyuga no Kuni, later lived in Ichijohorikawa, Yamashiro no Kuni and trained many disciples. Masahiro was also from Hyuga no Kuni and lived in Horikawa, Yamashiro no Kuni, but very few of his works remain. This sword has a wide blade with an overall shallow curve, a typical characteristic of the blades of the early Edo period. The jigane (ground metal) shows a combination of itamehada (a wood grain pattern) and mokumehada (a round wood grain pattern) with thick jinie (small martensite crystals in the ground) and chikei (curved lines of martensite crystals in the ground). The hamon (blade pattern) has a combination of leisurely notareba and gunomeba patterns with nie (small martensite crystals) and kinsuji (small shiny lines). His jigane and hamon clearly reflect his master's style.Masahiro Okuma is the nephew of Kunihiro. Admiring Kunihiro, he went up to Kyoto and became a central figure in the family. Among the Kunihiro family, he is renowned for exhibiting a style closest to Kunihiro. This dagger features a characteristic form of the very early Edo period, about 1 shaku and 7 bu in length. Originally, it was modeled after the construction style of waist swords from the Nanbokucho period, with curvature towards the tip, a wide body, and relatively thin layers, clearly evoking the Nanbokucho style. The ground steel has a rough texture referred to as Horikawa grain, with intricate patterns that follow the grain of the steel, giving it a fierce cutting look with added ji-nie. The hamon is in the Soshu tradition, with a mix of nie-deki gonome and waves. The edge of the blade is brightly frosted with strong nie, and the nie lines flow short and inward. Near the cutting area, the nie becomes even stronger, clustering like island blades, and the boshi also has slight distortions in the nie as it returns. The engraving features a Daikokuten figure, which is also seen in Kunihiro's works. It is the same figure as in Kunihiro's work inscribed with "Created in Kyoto," except that the orientation of Daikokuten is different. This masterpiece, even without a signature, could be mistaken for Kunihiro's work. □

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Chikuzen Munehiro Wakizashi

GG529

Masahiro

Submitted by kazarena on Mon, 2007-05-14 19:13

正弘

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△ 慶長︱山城

Masahiro

ID	MAS157
Province	Yamashiro
Start Era	Keichō (1596-1615)
End Era	Genna (1615-1624)
Active Period	1596-1624
School	Horikawa Kunihiro
Father	Kunimasa

Source	Rating	Reference/Page
Hawley	100	MAS157
Toko Taikan	¥9M	579
Fujishiro	Sai-jo saku	S326

Signatures:

大隅掾藤原正弘

osumi jō fujiwara masahiro

大隅守藤原正弘

osumi no kami fujiwara masahiro

Recorded works

ID/Name		Type	Mei	Year	Ref
0000-0783		Katana	大隅掾藤原正弘 osumi jō fujiwara masahiro 日州住 nishū ju

Ignore the dust

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Daisho Naoe Shizu & Tegai Kanetoshi

KK033

HOLD

A well mounted daisho, with two blades from the Nambokucho period. $17,550

Katana: Mumei, attributed to Naoe Shizuu. Shinogizukure, o-sriage, two mekugiana, iroi mune, o-kissaki. Hawatare: 2 Shaku 3 Sun 2 Bu 3 Rin (70.4 cm / 27.7"). Motohaba: 3.09 cm Sakihaba: 2.33 cm Kasane: 6.5 mm. Nie deki, bright well controlled habuchi, gunome midare, suagashi, kinsuji, nado. The boshi gunome, hakikaki, omaru. Itame hada mixed with mokume, jinie and chikei. Masame in the shinogiji. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon.

Wakizashi: attributed to Tegai, Kaanetoshi 手掻包俊. o-suriage, mumei. Shinogizukure, iroi mune, chu kissaki. Hawatare: 1 Shaku 6 Sun 5 Bu 9.9 Rin (53 cm / 20.86"). Motohaba: 2,53 cm Sakihaba: 1.99 cm Kasane: 5.5 mm. Nie deki suguba komidare, ashi iri. Strong even habuchi, nado. Koiitame hada with mokume mixed in. Masame in the shinogiji. jinie, utsure. The boshi is hakikaki. NBTHK Hozon kanteisho.

The tsuka are an leather tsuka ito over black same. The fuchi-kashira are iro with gold nnnome. Perhaps Nara school due to shallow fuchi. The menuki are soft metal gilt flowers. The slightly oblong tsuba are iron with intact silver nunome, Dai: 8.2 cm x 7.78 cm x 5 mm. Sho: 7.54 cm x 6.99 cm x 4.9 mm. The seppa are shakudo foil. The saya are polished same with iron kojiri, and horn kurikata and koiguchi. The kozuka is iron with a village sceen in takabori, the iron kogai has a dragon in takazogan.

Kaneuji originally worked in the Tegai 手掻 style in Yamato province during the years 1313 - 1315, his works from that time are referred to as Yamato Shizu. At that time he used the Yamato Kane 包. He then studied with Goro Nyudo Masamune, after which he changed his signature to Kaneuji, using the Mino Kane 兼. He is thought by many to be the best of the Masamune Jutetsu, the ten students of Masamune. He established his forge at Mount Shizu and was then known as Shzu Saburo Kaneuji 志津三郎兼氏 His students, Kanetomo 兼友, Kanetsugu 兼次, and Kanenobu 兼信 moved their forge to Mount Naoe, and are known as Naoe Shizu. They are smiths of the Nambokucho period.

The progenator of the Tegai school was Kanenaga 包永. There is some thought, that Kaneuji 包氏 had been one of his students. Of course, this is pure conjecture, as there ae no records of such. His known students are Kanetoshi 包俊, Kanekiyo 包清, Kanetsugu 包次, Kanemitsu 包光, , and second generation 包永 .

$17,550