Yamashiro Daijō Kunikane
山城大掾国包 (Yamashiro Daijō Kunikane)
Lineage: the signature does not state the generation
A line of Sendai smiths founded by the first Kunikane (1592-1665), smith to the Date with the title Yamashiro Daijō; it continued until the Meiji era.
Profile
The first Kunikane, surnamed Hongō, was born in 1592 in Mutsu Province. At the order of Date Masamune he entered the workshop of Etchū no Kami Masatoshi in Kyoto in 1614, and in 1619 he returned to be smith to the Sendai domain. He received the title Yamashiro Daijō and in 1638 took holy orders under the name Yōkei; he died in 1665. He worked in the Yamato manner: masame with suguha. The Kaihō Kenjaku of 1797 ranks the first saijō ō-wazamono. His descendants kept the name in the service of the Date until the Meiji era.
Notable works
- Katana signed «Yamashiro Daijō Fujiwara Kunikane» of 1628: important cultural property.
Rankings
- Maegashira (East) in Tomita Kiyama’s ranking of shintō smiths (1935)