3 descriptive axes: material (brass and refined-copper grounds for his inlay work, with the well-forged iron plate of his guards in the founder's manner) x technique (skilful inlay and applied-design inlay, with low-relief carving and hairline engraving, set against the founder's iron openwork) x themes (the tossed-paulownia and distant-pine devices carried from his father, and his own inlay subjects, the moon-in-each-paddy and the four-hare design). With only some five pieces the load-bearing separators from the founder are the two things the records use to tell the second generation from the first: that he signs, and that his strength lies in brass-and-copper-ground inlay rather than the founder's iron sukashi.
The second-generation Nishigaki Kanshiro, whose go is Nagahisa, is the eldest son of the founder of the Nishigaki line, one of the four great schools of metalwork. The records make him a master second only to his father, give his common name as Mosaku and his go as Yoshimasa or Nagahisa, and say he was born in 'ei 16 (1639) and died in Kyoho 2 (1717) aged seventy-nine, with a younger brother Kanpei. Where the founder is wholly unsigned and excelled at the iron openwork guard (the tossed-paulownia and distant-pine devices), the second generation is the first of the house to sign and turned to skilful inlay on brass and refined-copper grounds, in which the records find his true strength; his celebrated masterpiece is the Tagoto-no-tsuki (moon-in-each-paddy) guard. He is also said to have studied under the seventh Goto head Kenjo. His accepted work runs to both signed brass-and-copper inlay guards and a few iron openwork in the founder's manner.
Diagnostic discriminators
the setsumei use this exact contrast to tell the second generation from the first: against the founder, who excelled at the iron openwork guard (the tossed-paulownia and distant-pine), they say the second generation shows his true strength in skilful inlay on brass and refined-copper grounds; brass inlay of some form appears on 3 of 5 objects and copper-ground inlay on 3 of 5 here, the named contrast phrase on 2 (low-n)
the moon-in-each-paddy is repeatedly called his masterpiece (daihyo-saku) and a famous work, and the inlay subject is tied to the second generation in the biography; as a subject actually executed it appears on a single guard in this corpus (the Jubi masterpiece, signed Nishigaki Nagahisa, made aged seventy), the other mentions being the recited bio-praise, so this is a low-n tell scoped to his named masterpiece
Material (grounds)
Brass and refined-copper grounds carry his inlay work, the records finding his true strength there; the brass ground of the Tagoto masterpiece and the copper grounds of the four-hare and crest guards stand against the founder's wholly iron art. A part of his accepted work is the iron plate of the openwork , taken to a polished or hammered ground that shows the yokan-coloured iron of the schools.
Technique
Inlay above all, in which the records place his strength: applied-design inlay and fine line-and-area inlay in gold, silver and , with low-relief carving and hairline engraving finishing the design; on his iron guards he uses the founder's ground openwork instead, the pierced device dressed with the chisel.
Themes (devices and subjects)
On his iron guards he carries the okite-mono of his father, the tossed-paulownia device above all; on his inlay guards he works his own subjects, the moon-in-each-paddy that is named his masterpiece, the four-hare design, and the Hosokawa nine-luminary crest with cherry.
Iron okite-mono (the founder's manner)
The tossed-paulownia device cut in ground openwork on the iron plate, the okite-mono of the schools carried from the founder and finished with hairline engraving.
Inlay subjects (his own)less firmly established
The moon-in-each-paddy of the Sarashina terraces, worked in many coloured metals on a brass ground and named his masterpiece, with the four-hare design in gold, silver and inlay.
Full iconography
Signature chronology
Recorded signatures
Documentary note
Where the founder's accepted work is wholly unsigned, the second generation is the first of the Nishigaki house to sign, and his signature is itself the cleanest mark that separates him from his father: the records name the in- Nishigaki Kanshiro Nagahisa and the age-dated Nishigaki Nagahisa, made aged seventy. In this corpus the full signature Nishigaki Kanshiro Nagahisa appears on two iron tossed-paulownia guards, and the age-dated Nishigaki Nagahisa, made aged seventy on the brass-ground Tagoto masterpiece (a Jubi piece whose signature sits in a vertical block, not after a marker, so it is carried here rather than in the signature progression). Two further guards are titled second-generation Kanshiro (the four-hare and the nine-luminary-and-cherry plate) and are attributions, not inscribed signatures; the second-generation marker handles them. His common name is recorded as Mosaku and his go also as Yoshimasa, born 'ei 16 (1639) and died Kyoho 2 (1717) aged seventy-nine, with a younger brother Kanpei.
Scholarship
On one signed iron guard the record is said to value it as exceedingly precious documentary material, a scarce in-mei example of the second generation.
Designations
Kokuhō—
Jūyō Bunkazai—
Jūyō Bijutsuhin1
Gyobutsu—
Tokubetsu Jūyō—
Jūyō Tōken4
Elite Standing
0.00 across 5 designated works
Top 100% among makers
Provenance
3 documented provenances across certified works by Nagahisa
Provenance Standing
3 works held in elite collections across 3 documented provenances
Nagahisa（永久） was a maker of Japanese sword fittings (tōsōgu) of the Nishigaki school in Higo province, active during the Kan'ei–Kyōhō (1639–1717) period.
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