Kishū
紀州の刀工 (Kishū no tōkō)
The smiths of Kii: from the medieval workshops of the province to Nanki Shigekuni, smith of the Tokugawa branch of Wakayama.
Style and characteristics
A Yamato background: suguha and masame on the old blades. In the Edo period Nanki Shigekuni worked in two registers, a suguha in the manner of Tegai and a strong-nie notare and gunome in the manner of Sagami, with a very carefully forged itame jigane.
History
The province had workshops from the Nanbokuchō period, at Iruka and around the temples of Kokawa and Negoro. The great name came with the Edo period: Shigekuni, born in Suruga, followed Tokugawa Yorinobu when he received the fief of Wakayama, and his line, the Nanki Shigekuni, served the house for generations. A branch of the Ishidō school also settled there.
Smiths of the school
- Nanki Shigekuni 南紀重国