Antique Japanese Sword Tachi Signed by Soshu Tsunaie NBTHK Hozon Certificate
SOLD
Tracked across 76 dealers worldwide · price history · sold archive
Specifications
70.1 cm
1.2 cm
About the maker
Sue-Soshu Tsunaie綱家
Tsunaie served as a retained smith of the Hojo house of Odawara in Sagami Province and is regarded, together with Tsunahiro, as among the more skilled makers of the late Soshu tradition. His period of activity is placed around the Tenbun era (1532-1555). Many of his works bear a five-character signature reading "Soshu-ju Tsunaie," though two- and three-character signatures are also encountered, the latter cut in bold strokes toward the *mune* side of the tang. Tsunaie's workmanship is closely similar in style to that of Tsunahiro, and like his contemporary he specialized in fully tempered *hitatsura*. A representative *wakizashi* displays large *gunome* mixed with small *notare*, with *tobiyaki*, *ashi*, and *ko-nie* producing a vigorous *hitatsura* effect, while abundant *chikei* appear in a closely forged *itame-hada* with *ji-nie* and *muneyaki*. His *tanto* show a wide *yakihaba* with *ko-notare* mixed with *gunome*, the *boshi* turning in *ko-maru* with a long *kaeri* carrying *yakisage* that continues as *muneyaki* down to the base. The *kitae* across his productions is a dense *itame-hada* with well-adhering *ji-nie*. Tsunaie's *horimono* are likewise executed with considerable skill -- *bonji*, *koshi-hi*, *rendai* in layered carving, *gomabashi* carved *kaki-nagashi* -- adding a decorative dimension that complements the bold temperwork. The NBTHK has designated both *tanto* and *wakizashi* by Tsunaie as fine works, with individual pieces judged a *kasaku* or *kessaku* among his extant productions. His surviving corpus, though modest in number, demonstrates a consistent command of the late Soshu idiom in forms ranging from compact *hira-zukuri* *tanto* with *uchizori* to *sun-nobi* *wakizashi* of wide *mihaba* and shallow *sakizori*.
