Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke
河内守国助 (Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke)
Osaka swordsmith in Settsu, one of the founders of Osaka shintō in the first half of the 17th century; his name was carried on by his successors.
Profile
Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke (河内守国助) stands at the beginning of the Osaka school of the shintō period. Born in Ise province, he trained in Kyoto under Horikawa Kunihiro (堀川国広); school tradition holds that after his master's death he completed his training with Echigo no Kami Kunitomo. In the first half of the 17th century he settled in Osaka, in Settsu, and together with the first Izumi no Kami Kunisada he is counted among the founders of Osaka shintō. His blades show a ko-mokume jigane and lively, nie-rich hamon. The name and the title of Kawachi no Kami passed through three generations; the second, his son, is known as Naka Kawachi (中河内), 'the middle Kawachi', and is credited with the kobushigata chōji (拳形丁子), a chōji whose clustered heads resemble clenched fists. Since the generations signed alike, attributing a blade to one or another rests on its shape, style and date. The family kept the name into modern times.
Rankings
- Wazamono (good) (Kaihō Kenjaku, 1797)
Swords available
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Kawachi-no-Kami Kunisuke
Katana signed Kawachi-no-Kami Kunisuke, second generation of the Ōsaka shintō school, with a black-lacquered uchigatana koshirae and NBTHK papers for both blade and mounting. Katana by Kawachi-no-Kami Kunisuke, attributed by the original seller to the second generation, “Naka-Kawachi” (1628–1698), of the Ōsaka shintō school and famed for his kobushi-chōji. The blade, with a nagasa of 70.6 cm and a sori of 1.9 cm, is wide, with little taper and a long chū-kissaki; according to the original seller, the hada is itame turning to ko-itame with abundant ji-nie, and the hamon mixes gunome, kobushi-chōji and yahazu above a long Ōsaka-style yakidashi, with sunagashi and tama-yaki. The tang is ubu, of tanago-bara shape, with one mekugi-ana, ō-sujikai yasurime and the signature 河内守国助 (Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke), which the photographs confirm. The original seller warns of an old polish with areas of wear and slight rust. It comes with an uchigatana koshirae with a black-lacquered ribbed saya, a shakudō tsuba with kiri-mon over karakusa and a gold fukurin, shakudō fuchi-kashira with hanabishi and manji in a checkered pattern, sankozuka-ken menuki and a tsuka of white same wrapped in raw silk in hineri-maki, all unsigned; the set holds an NBTHK Hozon Tōsōgu certificate, visible in the photographs. The blade carries an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate and an older Kōshu Tokubetsu Kichō from 1977, of the retired system. A gold-foil habaki and a shirasaya are included.
69.8/100
€22,460
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Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke
Katana signed by Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, in the Osaka shintō tradition, with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken paper, a complete aka-ishime koshirae and a shirasaya. Katana by Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke, one of the leading names of Osaka shintō; the original seller attributes the blade to the second generation, known as Naka Kawachi, active between 1658 and 1673. The blade measures 60.8 cm nagasa with 0.7 cm sori; the photographs show a clean polish, a crisp hamon and a well-preserved kissaki, along with the kitae-kizu and light black rust the seller declares. The tang, photographed on both faces, keeps its original end and continuous yasurime, with two mekugi-ana and the signature of Kawachi no Kami Kunisuke on the omote. It comes with a complete koshirae: black and red aka-ishime saya with a chigai-bishi kojiri, round iron tsuba with hanabishi in sukashi, fuchi-kashira bearing the Big Dipper in gold dots and kuyō-mon menuki over a dark green ito that has been rewrapped. An NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken origami, legible in the photographs, and the original shirasaya are included.
56/100
€10,380
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Kawachi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisuke
An Osaka katana signed Kawachi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisuke and dated 1647, with an intact tang, an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate and a black-lacquered koshirae with skull-motif fittings. An early shintō katana signed Kawachi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisuke, attributed by the original seller to the second generation of the Kunisuke school of Osaka, founded by a pupil of Horikawa Kunihiro. The blade has a nagasa of 75.7 cm and a sori of 1.8 cm; the photographs show an undulating notare hamon mixed with gunome, a medium-sized kissaki and a blade in polish. The tang appears intact, with a single mekugi-ana, continuous yasurime and the signature on the omote; the ura bears the date 'Shōhō yonen hachigatsu kichijitsu', the 8th month of Shōhō 4 (1647). The blade holds an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōken certificate, legible in the photographs and recording both signature and date, together with a Japanese registration card from 1951 and a shirasaya with sayagaki. It comes with a koshirae comprising a black-lacquered saya, a tsuka with same and pale silk wrap, an iron tsuba and fuchi-kashira with skull and insect motifs, and a gilt habaki. The original seller neither describes nor dates the mounting: it is documented only in the photographs.
55.3/100
€19,240
