Kashu-ju Kanehisa (fss-685)

 

Item description here

This exquisette katana has great workmanship and a beautiful gunome midare hamon in absolute pristine condition.  It is in a fresh new polish. The sword is signed and dated ”  Kashu ju Kane Hisa 1842. The pictures not do justice to this sword.  The hamon is very rich with a solid nioi-guchi.  It has many hataraki and ji-nie appear.  The hada is very well forged with a milky looking color of a tighly forged itame .  This Shinto Katana also has an elegant shape and is very well balanced.  The mounts are in very good condition and add to the overall value of this sword.  The fittings are elegant and have a quality of richness with a traditional look and display very well.  Overall this is a fine Japanese katana.  The Fuchi-Kashira has a floral motif as well as the menuki.

The mounts are of very good quality from tsuka to saya. The floral motif beautifully finish the tsuka with an exceptional deep black tsukaito wrap. The saya is an exquisite unusual 2 tone black with red lacquer and kojiri. The floral motif was often used as a theme for Asian art. Mythological subjects and auspicious symbols were sometimes used as motifs for Japanese sword furniture. Floral motifs could stand alone as designs unto themselves, particularly if they had seasonal or symbolic associations, but they were also used as decorative patterns surrounding or backing more pictorial motifs such as bugs etc. The tsuba reminds one of a tachi style in iron. The menuki appear gold-washed and the same is old and original to the tsuka.

The hamon is a gorgeous gunome midare with a very rare and unusual shape throughout. The Kashu smiths were noted for their wonderful interpretations within their hamon. This hamon is a variation of the ear shaped gunome or mimi-gata. There is a high quality shirasaya and tsunagi to finish the blade

 

 

  • Mei: (omote/outside) Kashu-ju Kanehisa
  • Date: (ura/inside) Tenpo Ju san nen go gatsu hi (may, 1842)
  • Nagasa: 26-1/2 inches
  • Sori: 15.0 mm
  • Width at the ha-machi: 31.5 mm
  • Width at the yokote: 21.7 mm
  • Thickness at the mune-machi: 7.2 mm
  • Construction: Shinogi zukuri
  • Mune: Iori
  • Nakago: Ubu
  • Kitae: Itame
  • Hamon: Midare Gunome
  • Boshi: Ko-Maru
  • Condition: Great polish
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Click to Enlarge Image
This sword is on consignment.
Special Sale Price
Sold
On Hold

Asking price: $8,400.00

(shipping and insurance included)

Email us if your interested in this item and remember to include the order number for this item: fss-685.

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kantei-sho (鑑定書) – Certificate Kashû Kanehisa (加州兼久)

shôshin (正真) – Authentic
nagasa 2 shaku 2 sun 2 bu han kore ari (長さ弐尺弐寸弐分半有之) – Blade length 67.4 cm

Heisei nijûnananen shigatsu nijûrokunichi (平成二十七年四月二十六日) – April 26th 2015 Nihon Tôken Hozon Kai (日本刀剣保存会) – NTHK

No 12,285

meibun (銘文) – Signature: (omote) Kashû-jû Kanehisa (加州住兼久)
(ura) Tenpô jûsannen gogatsu hi (天保十三年五月日, “a day in the fifth month

Tenpô 13 [1842]”) kitae (鍛) – Foging: itame (板目)

hamon (刃紋) – Hardening: gunome-midare (互の目乱れ)

bôshi (鋩子) – Hardening in tip: sugu ko-maru (直ぐ小丸)

chôkoku (彫刻) – Engravings:

nakago (中心) – Tang: mekugi-ana (目釘穴) 1 (壱個), yasurime (鑢): sujikai suridashi (筋違磨り出し), sujikai with prominent deliberate start of file marks

bikô (備考) – Remarks:
shinsa’in natsu’in (審査員捺印) – Seals of Judges: 3 seals

Information on Kanehisa and his master Yasuhira. This Yasuhira was a pretty prominent figure of local Kaga swordsmithing and was also referred to as the “Suishinshi Masahide of Kaga” as he did a lot of theoretical and practical research on his craft, trying like Masahide to revive the old koto forging techniques.

Upon studying with Yasuhira, the eighth generation Kanehisa revived his then “below of the radar” lineage which had its origin in Mino province. His ancestor, the first generation, moved around Genki (1570-1573) from Seki to Kaga province. It is assumed that they then locally ended up as sub-contractors or assistants to other swordsmiths until Kanehisa VIII appeared and, learning from master Yasuhira, turned out some high quality works. His son was even honored with the title Ise no Daijo but changed his name later from Kanehisa to Kaneshige.

KANEHISA (兼久), 8th gen., Tenpō (天保, 1830-1844), Kaga – “Kashū-jū Kanehisa” (加州住兼久), real name Kinoshita Jintarō (木下甚太郎), he also studied under the Yasuhira (泰平) listed below and died in the third year of Kōka (弘化, 1846) at the age of 52

YASUHIRA (泰平), 2nd gen., Kansei (寛政, 1789-1801), Kaga – “Hokuban-tankō Darani Yasuhira saku” (北藩鍛工陀 羅尼橘泰平作, “made by Darani Yasuhira, smith of a fief along the Hokurikudō”), “Kashū Kinpu-jū Tachibana Yasuhira” (加州金府住橘泰平), real name Matsuto Shichirō (松戸七郎), son of the 1st gen. Yasuhira, he received in the fifth year of Tenmei (天明, 1785) a salary of 50 hyō, there are excellent swords extant by the 2nd gen. Yasuhira, he died in the fifth year of Bunka (文化, 1808) at the age of 65, chū-saku

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