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Lot Essay
Accompanied by a certificate of registration as a Tokubetsu Juyo Token [Specially Important Sword] no. 441 issued by the Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai [Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword] on 8th November 1989
Nagamitsu was the son of Mitsutada of Osafune in Bizen Province. His dated works show him to have been active from the Bun'ei (1264-1275) to the Kagen (1303-1306) eras. He made both broad and powerful tachi with grandiose midareba hamon and also slender elegant blades with suguha. The suguha blades, including those signed Sakon Shoken Nagamitsu, are of the later period, leading to the theory that there were two smiths of the name. However the same later tendency towards quieter hamon is seen also on works of the Ichimonji and Rai schools, and the question remains unresolved.
This fine tachi exhibits the clear round-headed choji typical of the work of Nagamitsu, with gunome, rich in variation including choji ashi, and yo. The utsuri is formed in well-defined continuous undulating bands found on both the midareba and suguha works of Nagamitsu. The boshi has the shallow notare and komaru known as the sansaku style ('The Three Makers'), being common to the work of the three smiths Mitsutada, Nagamitsu, and Sanenaga. The sword is particularly noteable in the brightness and serenity of the nioiguchi. It is a most healthy blade with excellent jihada and hamon, and an outstanding example of the work of one of the most famous of sword smiths whose work is rarely seen outside Japan.
Nagamitsu was the son of Mitsutada of Osafune in Bizen Province. His dated works show him to have been active from the Bun'ei (1264-1275) to the Kagen (1303-1306) eras. He made both broad and powerful tachi with grandiose midareba hamon and also slender elegant blades with suguha. The suguha blades, including those signed Sakon Shoken Nagamitsu, are of the later period, leading to the theory that there were two smiths of the name. However the same later tendency towards quieter hamon is seen also on works of the Ichimonji and Rai schools, and the question remains unresolved.
This fine tachi exhibits the clear round-headed choji typical of the work of Nagamitsu, with gunome, rich in variation including choji ashi, and yo. The utsuri is formed in well-defined continuous undulating bands found on both the midareba and suguha works of Nagamitsu. The boshi has the shallow notare and komaru known as the sansaku style ('The Three Makers'), being common to the work of the three smiths Mitsutada, Nagamitsu, and Sanenaga. The sword is particularly noteable in the brightness and serenity of the nioiguchi. It is a most healthy blade with excellent jihada and hamon, and an outstanding example of the work of one of the most famous of sword smiths whose work is rarely seen outside Japan.