Nobukuni naginata-naoshi

[Ray Singer]

One of the forum members asked that I post photos of my Nobukuni. Tanobe placed this piece to late Nambokucho, and was not able to give the specific generation. Sayagaki with translation follows...

 

城劦信國 – Joshu (= Yamashiro no kuni) Nobukuni

 

但薙刀直無銘也初代與應永信國ノ閒ニ位置スル工而年代ハ南北朝末期也

地刃ノ出来宜敷殊ニ互乃目ノ刃取ノ形ニ其特色ヲ顕現シ候彫物モ巧技也

- However, it is a Naginata-naoshi without a mei. The smith is thought to be Nobukuni between the 1st generation and later one in Oei era, and the period is around late Nambokucho. The workmanship of the blade is good. Especially, the shape of its Gunome pattern clearly shows his characteristic. Also the carving is excellent.

 

[Mark Green]

Sweet!!!!!

[Stephen]

Ray

 

Man you always have a good eye, Ill never forget the Tampa show somewhere around 1999 or so....seen you with a new sword in hand with papers running out the door with a grin of a Cheshire cat....to sit in the lobby and just wondering on what a great buy you just got. Glad to see you back bro.

[Amon]

Indeed sweet!

 

And thanks for sharing,

looks to be a very nice blade from the pictures.

 

Best regards,

[Veli]

What a beauty You have in there! I have always been a great fan of naginata naoshi and u-no-kubi zukuri blades (I presently own only one u-no-kubi zukuri blade). They are kind of harmonious sculptures in steel... I guess a number of people think the same way, since I have noticed that mid- and low price range naginata naoshi blades seem to sell more quickly than hira-zukuri or shinogi-zukuri blades. Of course they are more rare, but I think it is also their aesthetics!

 

And, as you say, the high-level workmanship in your blade is obvious!

 

 

BR, Veli

[paulb]

Ray,

Although not originally planned I have also become very keen on Naginata-Naoshi, particularly those from the late Kamakura and Nambokucho periods. What is very interesting about your blade (apart fom the fact that it is a very good looking sword) is the carving of the ken horimono behind the naginata hi. I cant remember seeing this before, do you think this is original to the piece or might it have been cut after it was modified? (from the images this seems unlikelty as the carving appears to run back into the nakago)

Have you any thoughts on this?

Regards

Paul

[Veli]

Paul has an interesting point here! But isn't the ken horimono located where the naginata-hi usually should be? So the blade might have had it originally? If the hamachi has been moved up in the modification, shouldn't it look like this?

 

 

BR, Veli

[paulb]

Veli,

you are right and I didnt explain myself very well. put it down to it being early in the morning. The ken hi is sitting where the normal plain wider groove would be on a more conventional naginata hi. just behind where the blade narrows on the mune. as you rightly say if this was done originally it is perfectly reasonable that it would run back in to the nakago when it was shortened. regardless this is a very fine looking blade and my little green envy devil is working overtime!!

Sorry for the confusion

Best Regards

Paul

[Curran]

Unique looking blade, even for Nobukuni school.

 

My understanding is that usually the 3 brothers or smiths that signed Nobukuni starting around Oei are usually considered the 3rd generation, but one or two things I have read state that there was a very short lived "third" generation in there between the 2nd generation and the Oei period guys. Is the implication that it is 2nd generation, or too hard to tell but the work predates the Oei Nobukuni? I've seen now at least 2 times that the NTBHK can give pinpoint specific attributions on unsigned Oei Nobukuni blades: one was T.Hozon to one of the 3 guys, and the other was Juyo to one of the 3 Oei guys.

 

Interesting that they could not give it to a generation.

 

The Nobukuni were such early horimono experts. Ken were so common in their work, I'd think the ken original to the blade.

 

Curran

[Ray Singer]

Wow Stephen, you have an excellent memory . It was 1999, and the sword I found in Tampa was a shodai Hizen Masahiro. Unfortunately I had to sell that piece along with a few others to purchase a very special ju-to Enju tachi being offered by Bob Benson. I will post photos of the Enju later in the week. The next owner of the Masahiro had a nice Higo style koshirae made. It recently sold on Mike Yamazaki's website:

http://www.ricecracker.com/japanese_swo ... a/sk16.htm

[Ray Singer]

Hi Paul and Veli,

 

Unfortunately I neglected to take photos of the nakago before leaving town this weekend but I will take some when I get back. The ken horimono is original. The two hi formed by the sides of the ken continue in parallel with the soe-bi, running deep into the nakago. The suriage is very old, at least mid-muromachi, and the nakago is well finished in kurijiri. You can actually see another example of this style of horimono in another posting in this forum...

 

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5678

 

What I am fairly certain is not original though is the short bo-hi in the ji. My feeling is that it was added to excise some kizu in the blade. Actually, this is the main reason I am not submitting for juyo. The sword is otherwise flawless and very healthy, however I am certain that this piece of ato-bori would keep the sword from passing...

 

- Ray

[Ray Singer]

Curran, I think you are right about a third generation working prior to Oei. I went back through my papers and Tanobe's original letter (pre-polish) states that the sword was made in late Nambokucho and would be a work of either the second or third generation. It is interesting that the sayagaki seems to include the shodai as a possibility...

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello,

 

Another thanks for sharing these images, Raymond. It's enjoyable to see a "good polish" even if its just in images. Recognizing that it's largely speculation regarding this particular piece, it is not unusual to see ken hori on a naginata from this time period, as naginata were favored weapons by monk warriors with strong connections to Buddhist temples.

Was the yokote added in this polish or already there previously?

[Ray Singer]

Thank you Franco, the polish was done by Kuroda-san, a mukansa togishi. The activity in the ji was brought out beautifully, with bright chikei throughout the sword. My photos don't capture this at all. As for the yokote, this was present in the previous polish...

[Curran]

In the big horimono book there is a fair bit of discussion (beyond my reading skills) about the particular shape, depth, and detail of ken horimono and how to take that to work backwards with an attribution to certain smiths. This is the book's opinion- but I enjoyed the idea and found myself agreeing with it.

 

Ray.... my spotty recall says to me that the sharp point ken which is deepest at the tip (and a few other things) is closer to the Oei Nobukuni guys, but the presence of ken horimono on both sides is something I don't recall in the Oei Nobukuni guys as much as I think I have seen it in maybe two or three 1st or 2nd generation works. From the horimono point of view, I can understand the Tanobe logic.

 

I know my viewpoint is a bit ass-backwards to work from the 3rd (or 4th Gen) Oei Nobukuni- but it was what I got to see a number of at one point and made the deepest mental impression. I think the long since defunct Philadelphia group put out a decent publication on the Nobukuni group.

 

I wish I had been able to see more 1st and 2nd Gen Nobukuni. Someone had a very beautiful Juyo (or T. Juyo????, I think just Juyo) as part of the San Francisco display in 2003. I would have liked to had a long study session with that blade, but it was not possible at the time. I've always wondered who owned it. Had things gone a bit differently the past few years, it is one I would have liked to track down and purchase. Alas, not meant to be.

[Gunome]

Very nice blade.

thanks to share it with us