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Lot Essay
With original certificate of registration as a 7th Juyo Token [Important sword] no. 403, issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai [Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword] on 10 September 1961
Iga no kami Kinmichi was the eldest of four sons of Kanemichi of Seki in Mino Province. Together with his father and three brothers, Izumi no kami Kanemichi, Tamba no kami Yoshimichi, and Etchu no kami Masatoshi, he went to work in Kyoto some time around the early 1590s. He received the right to cut a sixteen petal chrysanthemum on the tangs of his swords, and he and his successors retained a controlling position over the granting of this and the various honorific titles granted to sword-smiths by the Imperial Household throughout the Edo Period.
Kinmichi worked in Mino, Yamato, and Soshu styles. This sword is in the typical broad even-curved shape of Momoyama Period blades. The boshi has the slightly undulating sharp return known as the 'Mishina', or 'Sampin' boshi, found also on the work of his brothers.
Iga no kami Kinmichi was the eldest of four sons of Kanemichi of Seki in Mino Province. Together with his father and three brothers, Izumi no kami Kanemichi, Tamba no kami Yoshimichi, and Etchu no kami Masatoshi, he went to work in Kyoto some time around the early 1590s. He received the right to cut a sixteen petal chrysanthemum on the tangs of his swords, and he and his successors retained a controlling position over the granting of this and the various honorific titles granted to sword-smiths by the Imperial Household throughout the Edo Period.
Kinmichi worked in Mino, Yamato, and Soshu styles. This sword is in the typical broad even-curved shape of Momoyama Period blades. The boshi has the slightly undulating sharp return known as the 'Mishina', or 'Sampin' boshi, found also on the work of his brothers.