Kaga Iehira
家平 (Iehira)
Lineage: the signature does not state the generation
Line of swordsmiths of the Darani school in Kaga province, active in the second half of the 17th century.
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Iehira (家平) is the name of a line of swordsmiths of the Darani (陀羅尼) school in Kaga province, then ruled by the Maeda. At least two generations are recorded: the first worked in the Kanbun era (1661-1673), the second between the Jōkyō and Genroku eras (1684-1704). School tradition makes the first Iehira a son of the first Ietada (家忠), another leading name among the Darani smiths. The second later changed his signature to Kunihira (国平). They signed Kashū-jū Iehira (加州住家平) or Kashū-jū Fujiwara Iehira (加州住藤原家平), sometimes writing 賀州 (Kashū) instead of 加州 (Kashū). The standard directory of smiths describes an itame hada mixed with masame and a suguha hamon; school tradition also credits the line with gunome in a tight nioi, in keeping with the restrained manner of Kaga shintō.
Swords available
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Kashū-jū Fujiwara Iehira
Katana signed and dated to the second month of Kanbun 13 (1673) by a smith working for the Maeda of Kaga, with an untouched tang, a single mekugi-ana and a complete mounting. Iehira worked in Kanazawa as a smith for the Maeda house, lords of Kaga. The blade measures 69.5 cm nagasa with 0.9 cm sori, the very straight outline typical of Kanbun-era shintō, and weighs 630 g. The hada is mokume and the hamon a bright gunome-midare in ko-nie. The tang is ubu, with a single mekugi-ana, and carries both the signature and the date: an auspicious day of the second month of Kanbun 13 (1673). NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers accompany the blade. The mounting is complete: saya in reddish-brown lacquer, tsuka wrapped in black silk over isogusa lacquer, menuki and a tsuba with gold inlay. The original seller places tsuba and menuki between the middle and the end of the Edo period, unsigned and without tōsōgu papers, and declares one small rust spot on the sashi-omote. No shirasaya is included.
65.3/100
€8,960
