KANTEI QUIZZ 11

[takakage]

http://www.aoi-art.com/kantei/kantei11.html

 

 

seems to be an OEI Bizen

[Wim V]

It’s a long time ago since I last made a post on this board. I still read most of the discussions but as I feel my knowledge is still not much past the beginners level I am always hesitating to contribute, especially in kantei where I am very often left without a clue.

 

However, as lately lots of people are encouraging to participate in the kantei exercises, I will give it a try.

 

When I first had a look at this blade I immediately thought of a late koto period Bizen wakizashi. I came to this conclusion based on the stubby shape of the nakago, the itame/mokume hada, and the presence of bo-utsuri.

 

As for the time period, the very large kissaki of course made me think of Nanbokucho jidai, but I always thought wakizashi only began to appear starting from the Muromachi period (?) But as Tsuruta-san also seems to stress that (quote) “the signature is ura-mei†the answer may be that we are not looking at a wakizashi but a kodachi. And interestingly, after searching some of my books, I found a picture of a kodachi blade with almost exactly the same sugata as the one under discussion on page 32 of the 2003 Dai Token Ichi catalogue. This blade is signed (tachi-mei) as Bishu Osafune Hidemitsu, and dated Oan 5 Nen 2 Gatsu Hi (1372 AD). So in conclusion I would estimate the period to be late Nanbokucho – early Muromachi.

 

As for the workmanship Bizen tradition seems evident, but on a typical Bizen blade I would expect a choji midare hamon. So based on the suguba hamon and the rather fine hada I would judge that we are searching for a Bizen smith who was influenced by the Yamashiro tradition. According to Nagayama sensei’s conoisseur book, in the early Muromachi period Morimitsu and Yasumitsu seem to fit in this picture so I would go for one of these. However, I don’t have reference oshigata to pin down the one that fits best.

 

To cut a long story short, my answer is:

1) period: late Nanbokucho – early Muromachi

2) tradition: Bizen, but with Yamashiro influence

3) smith: Yasumitsu ?

[jrs]

Ko-Motoshige?

James

[takakage]

atari for Jmes

congratulations.

[Jean]

Ko-Motoshige is Kamakura - his works are very rare

 

This is second generation Nambokucho Motoshige :

 

MOTOSHIGE KA-GEN 1303 BIZEN 637-638 MOT 101 SAI-JO/JUYO 800 KO-MOTOSHIGE

 

MOTOSHIGE BUNKASAI KEM-MU 1334 BIZEN 638-639 K 559 MOT 103 SAI-JO/JUYO 950

[Wim V]

hmmm, I would not have thought of Motoshige when seeing the kantei blade :? This illustrates perfectly that I still have a veeeery long way to go in the study of Nihonto.

 

And worst of all (I am ashamed to say): some time ago I have had the privilege of seeing a Juyo Motoshige in hand, but even with this experience I was not able to recognize that the blade discussed here was made by the same hand. It's a bit frustrating.