Shintōgo Kunimitsu Tantō....diamond in the rough?

[Jacques]

Quote

I don't think thats correct. This is the date inscription which I interpret as a year in Showa (Showa 2? [1314]).

Not the same. The one you quoted is dated from Showa 4 not showa 2?.(1315) 

 

[Zoglet]

3 hours ago, Lewis B said:

If you're correct about masame in the DTI blade Nicholas, it could be by Hasebe Kunishige (Markus indicates a connection with Shintaro Kunimitsu, same smith?). The data is inconclusive although the masame points to Yamato influence. The 'wet' appearance of the steel also fits. 

 

KUNISHIGE (国重), 1st gen., Kenmu (建武, 1334-1338), Yamashiro – “Hasebe Kunishige” (長谷部国重), real name Hasebe Chōbei (長谷部長兵衛), it is said that he came originally from Yamato province where his ancestors lived in Nara´s Hatsuse (初瀬), there exists the tradition that the family name Hasebe was, over “Hase,” a modification of the pronunciation of “Hatsuse,” another theory says that he was the son of Senju´in Shigenobu (千手院重信), so it is assumed that his roots were in the Senju´in or in the Taima school, some sources state that he moved to Kamakura to study as late student under Shintōgo Kunimitsu (新藤五国光) before he finally settled in Kyōto/Yamashiro, this is supported by the tradition that Kunimitsu too bore the family name Hasebe, some even assume that Kunishige was the son of Shintōgo Kunimitsu, however, he moved around Kenmu to Inokuma (猪熊) in the Bōmon district (坊門) in the vicinity of Kyōto´s Gojō axis (五条), he is listed as one of the “Ten Students of Masamune,” unfortunately no signed works are extant by the 1st generation Hasebe Kunishige, his most famous work is the meibutsu Heshikiri-Hasebe (圧し切り長谷部) which was once the favourite sword of Oda Nobunaga, this and other ō-suriage-mumei blades have a wide mihaba, a thin kasane, a shallow sori, and an elongated kissaki, the mune is iori or maru, the jigane is a dense ko-itame which tends to masame towards the ha and the mune, the hamon is a notare mixed with gunome with plenty of hataraki within the ha like ashi, yō, sunagashi and kinsuji, towards the upper blade section also tobiyaki appear which can turn into a hitatsura, the bōshi is midare-komi with hakikake and a somewhat pointed kaeri, unsigned blades of the 1st and 2nd gen. are hard to differentiate, the jigane of the 1st gen. looks more “wet” and “sticky” whereas the ha is more bright, jōjō-saku ⦿

 

At the end of the day, due to the low resolution of the pictures, it's difficult to tell for certain whether the straighter grain truly is masame or merely running o-hada, however, masame doesn't always indicate Yamato influence, as we also see it in examples of Awataguchi blades from the mid-Kamakura Period, namely Kunitsuna, who may have instructed Shintogo Kunimitsu on sword-crafting. As such, it may be early to jump to Hasebe Kunishige, although Markus's suggestion may indicate that Shintogo Kunishige may be an earlier form of Hasebe's work, so that lends some credence to your suggestion. Overall, I'd stay more conservative on this issue until I can more readily see the jigane on this piece.

[Jacques]

I think this text by Hon'ami Kôzon, translated by AFU Watson, deserves to be read very carefully, especially by those who see daimei everywhere.