Tsuchiya Masachika (Yasuchika 6th gen.) information sought

[kyushukairu]

I don't suppose any members have NBTHK 'Sword Art' magazine numbers 318 (from June 1989) or 580 (from Feb 2006), and would be willing to scan a few pages for me? I'm trying to do a bit more research on Masachika (6th Yasuchika), after picking up a nice kozuka by him with tokubestu hozon. More specifically, I'd like to try to find out more about when he was retained by the Satake clan in Kubota domain (modern day Akita, where I currently live). The respective articles which I'm looking for are 'Research on the 6th gen. Yasuchika (Tsuchiya Masachika)'「六代安親（土屋昌親）の研究」（「刀剣美術」　３１８号）and 'Kinko Kunichika and Yasuchika Research'「金工　國親・昌親研究」（「刀剣美術」５８９号）.

[Mantis dude]

Sorry don't have those articles.  But out of curiosity- is the 6th generation the yasuchika that did these rat w/ mirrors and/or rats w/ Chinese scroll? The description describes the rats are piebald and while I hadn't heard that adjective before- it makes sense after looking up

piebald • \PYE-bawld\ • adjective. 1 : composed of incongruous parts 2 : of different colors; especially : spotted or blotched with black and white.

The rats are gold/ shakudo.  Lots of motif examples by Yasuchika.  

A few Examples:

https://www.christie...m/en/lot/lot-5618017

https://www.ebay.com...=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

https://www.ebay.com/itm/326005918226

 

Thanks,

Ken aka "the mantis dude"

Mantisdude.com

 

 

[kyushukairu]

Hello Ken. The honest answer is that I do not know which generation, if any,  produced these. These rats and scroll fuchigashira and tsuba are fairly common, as are the 'Yasuchika' elephant tsuba, and I'd previously dismissed them as student work at best. In saying that, if they were to be attributed to one of the six generations, my guess would be 5th gen., Kunichika.

 

Based on quality, we can discount the first two generations. The 3rd gen's work is quite rare and he had a very distinct signature (signing 'Yasuchika' in grasscript). His work is also quite good (I have a papered tsuba by him with enamel inlay). The 4th gen worked predominantly in katakiri-bori, and produced a lot of kozuka. The 6th gen was ordained with the Buddhist rank of 'Hōgen' and signed his work with 'Hōgen Yasuchika' [法眼安親]. Based on the work I've handled, my own kozuka, and an absolutely phenomenal iron tsuba with a frog on a waterfall (also papered), which is owned by a dealer friend (until I can pry it from him), I think Masachika's work is superior to preceding three Yasuchika, so that only leaves the 5th gen.

 

Unfortunately I do not know of any verified (papered) examples of the 5th gen's work to compare with, and there are no examples of his mei in Sesko's Signatures of Japanese Sword Fittings Artists. However, due to that, and the fact that the 5th gen used the gō "Tōu" [東雨], which is signed on the rat and fan menuki in the second link you provided: https://www.ebay.com...=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28, I think Kunichika would be the most likely candidate, if indeed these rat and scroll fuchigashira are by one of the Yasuchika masters.

 

[yogoro]

I don't know much about the 6th generation of Yasuchika, but I have a signed tsuba Masachika.
Tsuchiya Masachika 6th Yasuchika, son of Tsuchiya Kunichika 5th Yasuchika.
Iron, gold, silver, copper, shakudo...
Hakogaki, Kazutaro Torigoye. Sarah, Edo Period.
Pictured in Tsuba Kanshoki

[kyushukairu]

I'd like to publicly thank @BIG for being an absolute gentleman, searching for and photographing over 40 pages from the NBTHK magazine for me. Thanks again, Peter!