Horikawa Kunihiro
堀川国広 (Horikawa Kunihiro)
A Hyūga smith settled in Kyoto (1531-1614), founder of the Horikawa school; with Umetada Myōju, the father of shintō.
Profile
Kunihiro, surnamed Tanaka, was born in 1531 at Aya in Hyūga and served the Itō; when the house fell in 1577 he travelled the country as a mountain monk (yamabushi) and kept forging. In 1590 he forged at the Ashikaga school in Shimotsuke for Nagao Akinaga, and that same year he received the title Shinano no Kami. Around 1599 he settled at Ichijō Horikawa in Kyoto, which gave his school its name, and he died in 1614. His early works have the gunome of late kotō; those of Kyoto, calmer, study Sōshū-den and the Shizu manner, with strong nie, kinsuji and sunagashi, on wide blades with a long kissaki. He and his school were excellent carvers. His pupils include Dewa Daijō Kunimichi, Izumi no Kami Kunisada and Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke. The Kaihō Kenjaku of 1797 ranks him ō-wazamono.
Notable works
- Yamanbagiri Kunihiro: katana of 1590 for Nagao Akinaga, a copy of a Chōgi blade; important cultural property.
- Yamabushi Kunihiro: tachi of 1584, carved with Fudō Myōō; important cultural property.
Rankings
- Ō-wazamono (excellent) (Kaihō Kenjaku, 1797)
- Yokozuna (East) in Tomita Kiyama’s ranking of shintō smiths (1935)
Swords sold
Rank 388
€30,920
current max. 255 Points: 8.6 points · current max. 255