Fujishima Tomoshige
藤島友重 (Fujishima Tomoshige)
Name borne by a line of smiths of the Fujishima school in Kaga, active from the Nanbokuchō period to the end of Edo.
Profile
Tomoshige is the name carried by several generations of the Fujishima (藤島) school in Kaga province, from the Nanbokuchō period to the end of the Edo period. Tradition holds that the first was a native of Fujishima in Echizen, which gave the school its name, that he studied under Rai Kunitoshi in Yamashiro, and that he settled in Kaga in the first half of the 14th century. Most surviving work dates from the Muromachi period, when the school was at its most active and one of the main centres of sword production in Kaga. The blades typically show a ko-itame hada, sometimes mixed with masame or mokume, and a hamon of suguha or of notare with gunome and pointed elements; the style draws on several traditions, with a marked Yamato component. Blades of the later generations often carry double grooves (futasuji-hi). The smiths signed Fujishima Tomoshige (藤島友重) or simply Tomoshige (友重). The Kyoto National Museum holds a tachi with this signature, attributed to the Nanbokuchō period.
Rankings
- Ō-wazamono (excellent) (Kaihō Kenjaku, 1797)
Swords available
-
Fujishima Tomoshige
Suriage katana signed Fujishima Tomoshige (Kaga, Nanbokuchō to early Muromachi), with an Imperial Japanese Navy sabre mounting bearing a tachibana mon, new shirasaya and a declared Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken. Katana signed Fujishima Tomoshige, of the Fujishima school of Kaga province, which the original seller places between the Nanbokuchō period and early Muromachi. Shinogi-zukuri blade with iori-mune, 71 cm nagasa and 2.0 cm sori, with deep curvature, saki-zori and chū-kissaki. According to the original seller, the jigane is itame with nagare and mokume, with ji-nie and a darkish tone typical of Fujishima; the hamon is gunome-midare mixed with kaku-ba and togari-ba, richly covered in nie, and the bōshi is midare-komi returning in ko-maru. The photographs show a clean, well-polished blade; the seller states a recent polish and good condition. The nakago is suriage with a kiri end, three mekugi-ana and the signature “Fujishima Tomoshige” (藤嶋友重) preserved in its lower part; the seller notes that the characters are larger than usual for Tomoshige. It comes with an Imperial Japanese Navy sabre-type mounting (kyū-guntō): rayskin grip with wire wrap, gilt brass guard, nickel-plated metal scabbard and a tachibana mon; plus a new shirasaya and tsunagi and a silver-foiled copper habaki. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate (2023), not visible in the photographs.
49.5/100
€10,890
