手柄山甲斐守正繁 脇差

Overall length

Koshirae 70 cm

重量

Blade

Materials

Blade: tempered steel Koshirae: iron, silver, wood, lacquer, stingray skin, silk, shakudō, gold, brass, copper

Origin

Blade made in Edo

Dating

Blade dated 1807

伝来

From a Dutch collection

販売店の記載のまま

Description Masashige (1760-1830) was a swordsmith originally from the castle town of Himeji, Harima Province. His real name was Miki Asashichi (三木朝七). He was the second son of the 2nd generation Ujishige (氏繁), and due to the untimely death of his older brother who was the 3rd generation, he briefly took over the name as the 4th generation Ujishige. In the 1780s he moved to Osaka and was hired by Matsudaira Yorinobu, the daimyō of Mutsu ́s Shirakawa fief, for whom he moved to Edo to continue working there. In 1803 he received the honorary title Kai no Kami (甲斐守) or "Lord of Kai Province." His lord also granted him the two characters Shinmyō (神妙) which means something like “especially capable and laudable.” It is said that he only signed his best works with this supplement, and sometimes used the pseudonym Tangasai (丹霞斎). It is also said that he studied under shinshinto grandmaster Suishinshi Masahide (水心子正秀). He typically forged wide blades with a dense ko-itame hada. The hamon is a gunome-midare mixed with ō-gunome that is also known as tōranba (濤乱刃) or "large surging waves edge." Ashi, nie and pointed yahazu elements also appear. The jiba is bright and clear and the nioiguchi is broad.1 Fujishiro rates this smith jōjō-saku, his second-highest rating.2 Notes 1. Markus Sesko; Swordsmiths of Japan A-Z. Lulu, 2014. Page 559. 2. Fujishiro Matsuo; Nihon Tōkō Jiten. 1961. Blade attributes (With plain English below) Sugata: shinogi-zukuri, iori mune. Tori-zori (Shape: ridged sides, ridged spine. Even curvature) Kissaki: chu kissaki (Tip: medium-sized tip) Hada: ko-itame hada with ji-nie (Forging structure: small-dimensioned wood grain with many martensite crystals embedded in the surface) Hamon: gunome midare tōranba with thick nioiguchi, ashi and yahazu (Temperline: wavy with round and peaked elements, like large surging waves, thick temperline with into the hardened edge zone legs and forked elements) Bōshi: ko-maru with long kaeri (Temperline in tip: small round with long line at spine) Nakago: ubu, keshō yasurime with o-sujikai, iriyamagata (Tang: unaltered, ornamental file lines on top with steep right handed slanting lines, triangular tang end with longer side on edge Signature Facing side: 手柄山甲斐守正繁 Tegarayama kai (no) kami Masashige Reverse: 文化四年二月日 Bunka sei shi nen ni gatsu hi "One day in the second month of the fourth year of Bunka" (February 1807) 菅原純孝応需作之 Sugawara Sumitaka [no] ōju kore o tsukuru “Made this at the request of Sugawara Sumitaka” I have not been able to find any more information about this Sugawara Sumitaka. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers The blade was awarded Tokubetsu Hozon or "Especially Worthy of Preservation" by the NBTHK in 2001. Koshirae Comes with a nice koshirae with textured black lacquered scabbard, and iron mounts with silver inlays. The tsuka is covered with white stingray-skin and is elaborately wrapped with dark green cord over shakudō shishi lion menuki with golden highlights. The saya is a good fit, but on the tight side. The tsuba appears to be older than most of the koshirae and is a beautifully made sukashi (openwork) style with four-lobed design. It is not a perfect fit to the nakago which indicates a swap at some point in time. That said, it complements the current set nicely. The kozuka has no blade. It is made of iron and decorated with a spiny lobster in brass. Comes with a gold foil two-piece habaki. Shirasaya and tsunagi present. More photos Due to time constraints, I did not include full photography of the blade (yet). For serious buyers, they are available upon request.

（翻訳なし）