Bitchū no Kami Yasuhiro

Profile

Bitchū no Kami Yasuhiro belonged to the Kii branch of the Ishidō (石堂) school, a group of smiths from Ōmi who moved to Wakayama early in the Edo period and later on to Ōsaka. He was a son of Tosa Shōgen Tachibana Tameyasu (土佐将監橘為康), head of that branch, and a brother of Mutsu no Kami Tameyasu (陸奥守為康), who succeeded their father at the head of the school. School tradition has him working first for the Kii domain; after receiving the title Bitchū no Kami he settled in Ōsaka, where he was active around the Kanbun era (1661–1673). He signed Bitchū no Kami Yasuhiro, Bitchū no Kami Tachibana Yasuhiro or Kii no Kuni Yasuhiro, and a chrysanthemum crest is often cut on its own on the reverse of the tang. His work follows Bizen taste: a broad chōji midare hamon in nioi, at times with slanting ashi, over a ko-itame ground tending to masame. The name was carried on in the family for three generations. The Tokyo National Museum holds a katana by him signed with the title and the chrysanthemum.