-, 57th Session — Designated October 14, 2011
, : Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Kaneshige (和泉守藤原兼重)
Measurements 73.1 cm, 1.7 cm, 2.85 cm, 2.0 cm, 3.4 cm, 21.9 cm, none
Description : , ; standard with taper from base to tip; thick with a sense of ; slightly deep ; . : with some mixed in; in places tending toward ; well-apparent, with fine . : Shows at the base; a shallow as the main tone with mixed in; well-entered, with intermingled; deep with abundant ; fine runs through; the is bright and clear. : Tempering somewhat deep; basically —on the returning in , on the returning in . : None. : ; tapering; ; are large with a decorative ()-like effect; one ; below the on the side, set toward the , there is a distinctive seven-character signature in a reisho-like script style.
Artisan Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Kaneshige (和泉守藤原兼重)
Era Early period ()
Explanation Izumi no Kami Kaneshige was an -based smith who appeared after the first-generation Yasutsugu and Shigeyoshi (Shigeyoshi/“Hankei”). Among extant works by Kaneshige, the earliest dated example is a inscribed “Kan’ei 2, eighth month, [day]” (1625).
Izumi no Kami Kaneshige and Kazusa no Kaneshige have traditionally been treated as the same individual. It has been transmitted that because he was employed by Tōdō Izumi no Kami, he changed his title to Kazusa no out of deference—since it would have been improper for retainer and lord to share the same title. However, there exist (1) a inscribed “( crest) Tsuji Kazusa no Fujiwara Kaneshige, age forty-three, made at ,” together with “Yasutsugu, Shimosaka Ichinojō, age thirty-eight, made at in Bushū,” and (2) a inscribed “( crest) Yasutsugu made this at in Bushū using nanban-tetsu,” with the reverse reading “Shimosaka Ichinojō, age thirty-seven, made [this]; 6, second month, auspicious day” (1666). If one considers these dated and age-stated works, Kazusa no Kaneshige would have been born in Kan’ei 3 (1626). It is thus clear that Izumi no Kami Kaneshige and Kazusa no Kaneshige were different individuals.
Most works by Izumi no Kami Kaneshige are and ; by him have not been seen. His style can broadly be divided into two types: (1) works based on with connected mixed in and with entering; and (2) works in which and are deep, the structure is essentially with a shallow flavor, and the appears bright and clear.
This is a typical example of the former group. The appearance of at the base, the shallow basis with intermingled, the abundant , the deep , plentiful , fine , and the bright, clear are characteristic of Kaneshige when he pursued this range of expression. Additionally, its desirable workmanship is enhanced by its thick and an ample, well-fleshed ( rich) and (sound and well-preserved) form.
Finally, while the bears with a decorative () appearance, these do not go so far as the overtly ornamental often seen on later works; rather, they may be regarded as an earlier, formative stage of that practice.