Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa
若狭守氏房 (Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa)
Sue-Seki smith from Seki in Mino who worked for the Oda house and died at Kiyosu, in Owari, in 1590.
Profile
Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa was a Seki smith from Mino, of the Zenjō (善定) branch of the Sue-Seki school. He is held to have been a son of Kanefusa (兼房), whose name he used early in his career. Tradition has it that he worked for a time at Fuchū in Suruga for Imagawa Ujizane, who is said to have granted him the character uji (氏) of his new name. In 1570 he received the title Wakasa no Kami, and from then on signed Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa (若狭守氏房) or Wakasa no Kami Fujiwara Ujifusa (若狭守藤原氏房). He served the Oda house, working at Gifu, Azuchi and Kiyosu in Owari, where he died in 1590. His blades are wide, with a long bōshi and a ko-itame hada that stands out somewhat; the hamon, with a tight nioiguchi, is a lively notare-midare or the round-headed gunome known as Kanefusa-midare (兼房乱れ). He is also cited for futasuji-hi, a pair of parallel grooves of equal width. His son, Hida no Kami Ujifusa (飛騨守氏房), carried the line on in Owari.
Rankings
- Yoki-wazamono (very good) (Kaihō Kenjaku, 1797)
Swords available
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Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa
Jūyō Tōken katana by Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa, a Mino smith in the service of Oda Nobunaga, with an ubu tang signed and dated Genki 2 (1571), handachi-koshirae and shirasaya. Katana by Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa, a Mino smith of the late Muromachi period. According to the original seller, he was the third son of Zensai Kanefusa, first signed as Kanefusa, worked as a retained smith of Oda Nobunaga and later moved to Owari. Shinogi-zukuri blade with iori-mune, nagasa of 71 cm and sori of 1.6 cm, with bōhi on both sides. The original seller describes an itame with mokume, thick ji-nie, chikei and a faint nie-utsuri; the hamon is notare with gunome, chōji and stretches of togari, with kinsuji, sunagashi and a bright nioiguchi. The photographs show an ubu tang with sujikai yasurime and kurijiri, the long signature “Wakasa no Kami Ujifusa saku” on the omote and the date “a day in the 8th month of Genki 2” (1571) on the ura; two mekugi-ana are visible, one of them plugged. Designated Jūyō Tōken at the 16th NBTHK session (1967); the certificate, the oshigata and the zufu page are photographed. It comes with a shirasaya and a handachi-koshirae with a black ishime-lacquered saya, shakudō nanako fittings with gold flowers and a gold habaki; the original seller describes the mounting without dating it.
62.2/100
€56,340
