Collecting Utsushimono?

[Jussi Ekholm]

As we have been talking sometimes what kind of focus people have in their collecting etc. I'm quite curious if someone happens to be collecting or knows someone that collects mainly utsushimono?

 

I've sometimes wondered that and now that Ray & Jean posted few nice ones recently it came back to me. Here are few examples to get this going.

 

Koryu-Kagemitsu - http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/a00487.html

Sohayanotsurugi - http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/a00489.html

Sanchoumou - http://www.samuraisword.com/nihontodisplay/shinsakuto/Ono_Yoshimitsu_Tachi/index.htm

 

[BIG]

Very hard to find them...https://markussesko.com/2015/09/19/copies-homages-and-reinterpretations/

 

Like the true copies from the Naotane school. A la mode shogun, when the Soden-Bizen declared best, Kanemitsu/Kagemitsu utsushi

had a big market, so you find them even in our times to collect...

 

Best

[Ray Singer]

The answer is surprisingly yes. I met someone who is a serious gendai collector, and he focuses on very special pieces. Special order, those having historical significance and a subset of his collection are WW2 era gendai utushimono. To name few of these unusual and rare pieces are a copy of Nikkari Aoe by Horii Toshihide and a copy of a Bungo Yukihira by a Yasukuni smith (including Yukihira horimono). There is also a very faithful Norishige utushimono by Shibata Ka, which I suspect may have been based on an actual Norishige he owned (Ka purportedly had an impressive collection himself).

[Jussi Ekholm]

Awesome to hear Ray.

[Jussi Ekholm]

Reviving an old thread as I happened to accidentally stumble to Koryū-Kagemitsu utsushi by Yoshihara Yoshindo. Woweh...

 

Very good quality picture in the link: https://heiseimeitokai.com/blade/384_1.jpg

 

Also last year at Samurai Art Expo there was the Kogarasu-Maru utsushi by Sadakatsu: https://japanartexpo.com/exhibition-highlights/

 

I can't really explain why I find these extremely fascinating.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Maybe it's fascinating because we might be able to afford one of these?

[Rivkin]

What always puzlled me with utsushi-mono is that vis-a-vis Soshu they do hint towards something not yet well understood or accepted.

Hocho Masamune is a form very unique to Masamune, a prized specimen, there are quite a few of those found in different collections.

Yet, and this is a question - when do we see the first hocho utsushi? There are quite many gendai ones, including pre WWII. There is a Meiji example.

But nothing substantially earlier than that (I hope to be corrected here if someone knows an exception to this).

Despite significant numbers of Hasebe, Akihiro and Sadamune utsushi.

 

Kirill R.

[Jussi Ekholm]

I've been bumping into lot of really nice ones lately.

 

Here is a historical copy Atagi Sadamune (now missing meibutsu) by shodai Yasutsugu

 

 

And here is a modern copy of Kokuhō Heshigiri Hasebe

http://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords5/NT329704.htm

 

[Ken-Hawaii]

Wow, Jussi! That's a really good Hasabe utsushi. Sure wish I could buy the original for that much!

[Wim V]

At the last NBTHK-EB meeting in Bonn, we had the fortunate opportunity to study a Sadamune-utsushi daito by Gassan Sadakazu, made in Meiji 39 (1906).  The blade was in katakiriba-zukuri with an incredible amount of Soshu-style hataraki, really an exceptional and wonderful piece.  On top of that the sword also had a magnificent dragon horimono, skillfully executed by Sadakazu (hori-do saku).  According to the owner this is one of only 3 pieces by Sadakazu that have been awarded Juyo Token status.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture or oshigata, but it received Juyo in the 61st shinsa, so people who own the zufu of that session can find the oshigata.

 

To answer the original question however: in this case the owner doesn't specialize in utsushi-mono, but he definitely consistently aims for very high quality.

[Surfson]

Interesting question Jussi.  Though I don't specifically collect utsushimono, I have some, including a Masamune copy made by Gassan Sadakazu that is labeled as such, and a Yamato utsushi by Naotane that has been discussed on NMB in the past.