Ko-Bizen Masatsune
正恒 (Masatsune)
A Bizen smith of the late Heian period, with Tomonari the great name of Ko-Bizen; the one with the most surviving signed work in the group.
Profile
Masatsune is, with Tomonari, the leading figure of Ko-Bizen, and the smith of that group with the most surviving signed blades. The variety of his signature, which tradition says he wrote in seven different ways, and some blades already showing Kamakura features suggest several smiths of the same name; in neighbouring Bitchū there was also a Ko-Aoe Masatsune, and it is not always easy to tell whose a blade is. His tachi have koshizori, funbari and a ko-kissaki; the ko-itame is dense, with ji-nie, and the temper is a suguha with ko-midare and ko-chōji, of an archaic air. He signed «Masatsune» with two characters and no date. Tradition credits him with Sasaki Takatsuna's sword Nawakiri Masatsune. Five of his tachi are national treasures.
Monograph
Ko-Bizen Masatsune (正恒)
A name that several swordsmiths may have borne, with four or five tachi that are National Treasures, told with the level of evidence of each fact.
Read the monograph
Notable works
- Signed tachi from the Hachisuka house: national treasure, Fukuyama Museum of Art; its official record calls it the most archaic-looking and finest of his blades.