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Overview·Kantei·Designations·Provenance·Blade Forms·Signatures·Lineage·School
OverviewKanteiDesignationsProvenanceBlade FormsSignaturesLineageSchool
  1. Schools
  2. Osafune
  3. Ko-Osafune
  4. Kageyori

Osafune Kageyori

景依

Jūyō
Vol. 59, No. 51 · Tachi

Osafune Kageyori

景依

5 ranked works

ProvinceBizenEraKoan (1278–1288)PeriodKamakuraSchoolOsafuneTraditionBizen-denTeacherNagamitsuToko Taikan900(top 10%)TypeSwordsmithCodeKAG235
2Jūyō Bijutsuhin
3Jūyō Tōken

Overview

A signed inscribed Bishū Kageyori, designated in the 51st session, fixes this Kageyori in the school of at the close of the period, where the published sources place him traditionally as a son of Kagehide, active around the Einin era. The name itself is one of the problems of late . The reference works enumerate more than one smith signing Kageyori in the province, listing the name among the group, the late offshoots of , the school, and the founders of the Yoshii line, so that a Kageyori blade is read by its own and , the form of its signature, and the very shape of the character yori (依) before it is assigned a hand. This Kageyori is the most fully readable of them, his signed and dated record carrying the old- and into the manner of late , with the calmer of the circle running beside it.

The is the richest statement of his hand. The is somewhat wide with a pronounced taper from base to tip, yet keeping its , with a . The temper is a base mixed with , -like , and , lower and more straight-tending toward the , the whole running . Within it and enter, the line is -dominant with and in places rougher , and fine and play through a bright . The published sources read the rounded-headed crossed with as the very character of late- work, and single out the pointed teeth as inherited from his father: 「尖り刃は父景秀の遺風を想わせる」, the conspicuous in the recalling the bequeathed manner of Kagehide. It is this in a - field, and not a plain late- clove, that ties the blade to the line.

The is old carried into . Over a well-packed , in places mixed with and on the longer inclining to stand a little, he sets a dust-fine , delicate , and a standing clear in the steel. On the the reflection takes a streak-like form, with the patchy of old visible in the lower half, the forging there tightly wrought and refined. The answers the temper rather than templating it: on the it is , -like on the and turning back with a pointed tendency on the ; on the pieces it goes straight into a . He carves on the and, on one , a plain on the with on the .

Beside the flamboyant runs a second register, the calm of the late- circle. The , signed Kageyori and read from its overall workmanship as a late offshoot of around the Kōan years, tempers a with an extremely shallow , mixed with , into which and enter, the tight and adhering. The published sources call its and a thing that recalls work of the late period, refined in feeling, and prize the piece for documenting the working range of the name, noting that it is 「資料性も高い」, high too in its documentary value. The most striking of the blades is an the published sources assign, from the style of and , the small finely chiseled characters, and the form of the character yori, to a Nitta-no-shō smith whose surviving works are extremely few. Notably long, with a high and , it shows a with standing overall, a dark steel color, and a faint ; the mixes slight , the frays in fine -, the tightens and sinks toward , and the temper drops in above the .

The range of the name is best seen against itself. The bright and the sunken, -bearing are the two faces of the late- Kageyori, the one read as 「鎌倉時代後期の長船物らしさ」, the look of late- , the other carried so far from it that the published sources judge the Nitta , with its crepe-like dark and subdued straight temper, 「一見古青江の上作を思わせる」, recalling at first glance a superior work. What holds the hands together is the old- beneath both, the well-packed with its , , and standing , and it is the and the form of the signature, far more than any single temper, on which each attribution rests. The earlier Kageyori, known by a boldly cut large two-character signature over a , stands a generation back from this hand, the name read across the whole arc from old into the school.

Kageyori survives in a small but high designated record. The Tōkō Taikan values his work in the mid range, and Fujishiro assigns him no grade. Two signed and the are designated , one given to the Kageyori said to be Kagehide's son, the other the Nitta-no-shō noted for its rarity; two further were recognized as Jūyō Bijutsuhin before the war, one bold-signed and judged , the other placed around Einin. There are no National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties on this code's record, so the name lives entirely within the upper designated tiers rather than in museum patrimony. The recorded provenance is private and sparse, the prewar Bijutsuhin held in the Tokyo collections of Kodama Sawako and of Yasuda Yoshihiko, with a Tsuchiya-family blade among the . Across the and tiers only the three blades are recorded, and the most distinctive of his hands, the Nitta-no-shō , is by the published account extremely few in survival, so a signed Kageyori in private hands is among the rarer encounters in early , appearing, when it appears at all, only with patience.

Kantei

the late-Kamakura Kageyori read across a flamboyant Osafune register and a calm Nitta-no-sho register over one old-Bizen ground: a well-packed ko-itame with ji-nie, chikei and midare-utsuri, carrying on one side a choji-gunome temper with togariba inherited from his father Kagehide and overall saka-gakari, and on the other a suguha with ko-gunome, a sunken nioiguchi and yakiotoshi that the published sources liken to Ko-Aoe

Kageyori is the late- name that the published sources read across several hands and place at the close of the old- world as it passed into . The reference works enumerate more than one Kageyori in , recorded among , the late offshoots of , the group and the founders of the Yoshii line, so a Kageyori blade is read by its own and before it is given a line. His readable record is a small body of signed and one , the form slender to standard with a high carried even through shortening and a . Over a well-packed , in places mixed with and in one piece standing a little, he sets a dust-fine , delicate and a , the patchy of old showing in the lower half of one. The temper runs two ways: a flamboyant register of with , and , overall , the bright with and , which the published sources tie to an -school Kageyori said to be the son of Kagehide; and a calm register of and carrying with and , the tight and at times sunken, with at the on the piece the published sources read as -like work of a Nitta-no-sho smith. He carves , a plain and .

Diagnostic discriminators

Observation by phase

The Osafune register: choji and gunome with togariba (son of Kagehide)

The richest of his readable blades is a signed that the published sources assign to an -school Kageyori, said to be a son of Kagehide and placed around the Einin era. The form is somewhat wide with a pronounced taper, yet keeping its , with a . Over a well-packed mixed with he sets a dust-fine , delicate and a distinct . The temper is a base mixed with , -like and , lower and more straight-tending in the lower half, overall , with and entering, -dominant with and in places rougher , fine and running and the bright. The is , -like on the and turning back with a pointed tendency on the . The published sources read the rounded-headed mixed with as the character of late- work, and the conspicuous within the as the inherited manner of his father Kagehide. A Jubi traditionally placed around Einin and likewise read as the son of Kagehide keeps the well-packed with and under a with small , the calmer face of the hand.

Sugata 姿
Jigane 地鉄
Hamon 刃文
Bōshi 帽子

The Ko-Bizen offshoot register: suguha-cho with ko-gunome (gaku-mei, Koan)

A carries a three-character signature, Kageyori , which the published sources judge from the overall workmanship to be the work of a smith active around the Koan era belonging to the late offshoot of . The form is of standard , yet retaining , with a . Over a tightly forged the dust-fine gathers, fine enter, a streak-like stands out, and a shows in the lower half. The temper is with an extremely shallow , mixed with , with and entering, the tight and adhering. The turns in with a shallow on the , straight on the , both in . A is carved on both sides, run through. The published sources read both and as recalling work of the late period, refined in feeling, and note the blade for its documentary value in establishing the working range of Kageyori.

Sugata 姿
Jigane 地鉄
Hamon 刃文
Bōshi 帽子

The Nitta-no-sho register: a sunken suguha with yakiotoshi, Ko-Aoe-like

A signed the published sources read, from the style of and , the small finely chiseled characters and the form of the character yori, as the work of a Nitta-no-sho smith of the late period, whose extant works are extremely few. The blade is notably long, the of standard breadth with a pronounced taper, the high with and curvature continuing toward the tip, a majestic . Over a mixed with the stands out overall, a thick dust-fine forms with fine , a faint appears and the steel color tends dark. The temper is with a slight admixture of , the showing fine with , the tight with and a tendency to , slight running and the temper dropping in above the . The is straight, tending to , with a plain on the and on the . The published sources liken the crepe-like ground, the sunken straight temper and the at the base to a superior work, a piece rich in antique flavor.

Sugata 姿
Jigane 地鉄
Hamon 刃文
Bōshi 帽子
Scholarship

The published sources record that more than one smith signed Kageyori in Bizen Province during the Kamakura period, the name appearing among Ko-Bizen, the late offshoots of Ko-Bizen, the Osafune group and the founders of the Yoshii line. They read the gaku-mei wakizashi, from its overall workmanship, as a late Ko-Bizen offshoot work of around the Koan era, and the signed tachi as an Osafune-school Kageyori said to be the son of Kagehide and placed around the Einin era. A further ubu tachi they assign, from the style of ji and ha, the small finely chiseled signature and the form of the character yori, to a Nitta-no-sho smith of the late Kamakura period, noting that his extant works are extremely few.

Designations

Kokuhō—
Jūyō Bunkazai—
Jūyō Bijutsuhin2
Gyobutsu—
Tokubetsu Jūyō—
Jūyō Tōken3

Elite Standing

0.02 across 5 designated works

Top 28% among smiths

Provenance

3 documented provenances across certified works by Kageyori

Provenance Standing

0 works held in elite collections across 3 documented provenances

Top 61% among smiths

Raw score: 1.94 / 10

Blade Forms

Distribution across 5 ranked works

Signatures

Signature types across 5 ranked works

Currently Available

Lineage

TeacherNagamitsu
Kageyori
Student
  1. 1.Masanaga將長2designated

Osafune School

Other artisans of the Osafune school

  1. 1.Mitsutada光忠61designated
  2. 2.Nagamitsu長光2 for sale253designated
  3. 3.Kagemitsu景光1 for sale146designated
  4. 4.Kanemitsu兼光4 for sale237designated
  5. 5.Sanenaga眞長64designated
  6. 6.Chikakage近景4 for sale86designated
  7. 7.Tomomitsu倫光1 for sale64designated
  8. 8.Kagemasa景政2 for sale22designated
  9. 9.Masamitsu政光4 for sale84designated
  10. 10.Motomitsu基光3 for sale41designated
  11. 11.Kagehide景秀23designated
  12. 12.Yoshimitsu義光35designated