説明
Skip to content
ITEM# UJWA237 –
Catalogue 31
– Sold
A Norishige Kodachi
(則重)
Among the great masters of the early Sôshû school,
Norishige
occupies a singular position. A fellow student of Masamune under
Shintôgo Kunimitsu
, Norishige worked in northern
Etchu province
on the Sea of Japan, and the cold, mineral-rich environment of his forge left its mark on everything he made. According to the NBTHK Token Bijutsu, Norishige surpasses even Masamune in
hataraki
– the spectacular internal activity of the blade – and his steel carries the unmistakable spiralled grain known as
matsukawa-hada
, a pattern that evokes the rough, furrowed bark of old pine trees. Fujishiro ranks him at the very highest level:
Sai-josaku
, a grandmaster swordsmith.
This splendid
kodachi
– registered as a wakizashi but carrying the graceful form of a small tachi – is a supreme example of his craft. The jihada is a stand-out itame with mokume and nagare resolving into classic matsukawa-hada formations, the darkish steel alive with clusters of
ji-nie
and thick weaving chikei. The hamon is wide and rich, mixing gunome, choji, and ko-notare with abundant ashi,
yo
,
hotsure
,
yubashiri
, and the dazzling gold-thread lines of kinsuji and sunagashi that run throughout. The boshi turns in a nie-laden ko-maru with sweeping
hakikake
. Two parallel grooves –
futatsuji-hi
– run the full length of the blade, adding elegance to its already graceful tachi-like curvature. The nakago is a clean o-suriage, mumei.
The koshirae is a late Edo period Higo
uchigatana-koshirae
of exceptional quality. The tsuba, certified by the NTHK-NPO to a late generation of the Nishigaki school of Higo province (circa 1780-1867), bears a pierced pine tree design – a pointed tribute to the Norishige
matsukawa-hada
itself, with all the Shintô symbolism of pine. The kashira features deeply carved waves and is certified to the Jingo school of Higo province. An antique brown-leather wrapped
tsuka
, preserved with gold lacquer on the samek