NihontoWatch重要無形文化財保持者（人間国宝）高橋 貞次刀匠の作品。 高橋貞次は愛媛県出身の刀匠で、大正年間より古刀の作風を研究し、五ヶ伝に精通した。1938年第一回刀剣展にて内閣総理大臣賞を受賞、戦後は皇室関連の作刀を多数行い、伊勢神宮式年遷宮の御宝御神刀を鍛え、1955年、これらの活動と成果が評価され、人間国宝に認定された。刀匠としては初の人間国宝である。受賞後の1959年、今上天皇成婚に際して美智子皇太子妃（当時）の守り刀を鍛える。その後1965年の礼宮文仁親王に至るまで、美智子皇太子妃所生の皇男子の守り刀を鍛え続けた。 本作は身幅尋常で反りの深くついた優美な太刀姿を見せ、地鉄は小板目肌つみ、刃よりに柾目を交え、刃文は小沸出来の丁子乱れに強い金筋・稲妻が焼きを縦に裂くように入るなど、覇気に満ちた作域を示した同作中の傑作である。
Certificate reading — 銘 精鍛龍王子源貞次(花押)(刻印・龍王) 紀元二千六百年三作之内
NihontoWatchOffered by Iida Koendo
As written by the shop
Ehime · around 1926-1989
3 pieces on the market now
Shōwa to the present: destruction and revival
The twentieth century nearly killed the craft twice: wartime distortion, then the occupation ban. The NBTHK’s founding in 1948 and licensed forging from 1953 rebuilt the sword as an art, crowned by Living National Treasures and the mukansa rank.
A Hozon-certified blade judged to show notably superior workmanship and a better state of preservation. The bar is higher: re-tempered blades and most unsigned Muromachi/Edo works are excluded.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
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