Ikkanshi Tadatsuna
一竿子忠綱 (Ikkanshi Tadatsuna)
An Osaka smith of the Genroku era, the second Ōmi no Kami Tadatsuna; he carved his own blades with dragons, plum trees and carp, and signed those works with the name Ikkanshi.
Profile
Tadatsuna, of the Asai family, was the second generation of Ōmi no Kami Tadatsuna in Osaka; the family claimed descent from Awataguchi Kunitsuna, and his father had moved to Osaka. Ikkanshi is his art name, which he used above all on engraved blades of the Genroku and Hōei eras. He started with his father's long-legged chōji and, from Genroku onwards, also tempered tōran-ba in the manner of Tsuda Sukehiro and suguha in that of Inoue Shinkai. He carved dragons, plum trees with the Kurikara dragon or carp climbing the waterfall himself, and added on the tang that the carving was by his own hand. His blades are usually wakizashi and katana of about 64 cm, with a gentle shape and an elongated chū-kissaki. The Yamada cutting list ranks him among the good cutters.
Notable works
- Engraved tachi dated 1709, formerly of the Kunizuihiko shrine in Tokushima, at the Kyoto National Museum: important cultural property.
Rankings
- Yoki-wazamono (very good) (Kaihō Kenjaku, 1797)
- Komusubi (East) in Tomita Kiyama’s ranking of shintō smiths (1935)