Reasonably priced Naginata

[sabiji]

Just as an aside, but still relevant to the original topic:
A few weeks ago, I bought an Osaka Shinto Waki from a blacksmith who is considered a student of Inoue Shinkai. Not only the style of the work is strikingly similar to Shinkai's, but also the shape of the tang, the kurijiri, the yasurime and finally the character of the signature. This can be found in many blacksmiths of this period who were students of well-known masters. 

 

Well, I have difficulty finding the style of Nakagawachi Kunisuke in this work, whose student this Sukekane is supposed to be. Yes, the style is Osaka in the broadest sense, the yakidashi fits Osaka quite well, but it does not look like a typical work from Kunisuke's circle.

 

If you do some research, Kozuke Kami Sukekane, who is said to have been a pupil of Kunisuke, is also said to have signed Yamato kami Kunitake. He was based in Yamato Koriyama and came from the Tegai tradition, hence the typical spelling of “Kane”.

The character of the signature of this Kunisuke student (but also the kurijiri and tapering of the Nakago) differs significantly from “our Sukekane”.

The signature of “our Sukekane” is very self-confidently written in large kanji and somewhat semi-cursive. The tagane look very sharp and clear. The yasurime also look very clear, and in the lower area it appears as if a rough higaki has been applied (which does not fit Kunisuke as a master at all).

 

Therefore, I wonder if “our Sukekane” was not rather a blacksmith of the late Shinto/early Shinshinto and thus a disciple of the 6th generation Owari Nobutaka and later also of Ozaki Suketaka.

The later generations of Nobutaka liked to copy Osaka Shinto, and Suketaka in particular Sukehiro anyway.

 

The reference to “Settsu” in the Hozon could also fit the Nobutaka/Suketaka student, as the Kunisuke student was based in Yamato.sword forging

The fact that there is no reference to “Shinshinto” could be due to the fact that this Sukekane worked during the Shinto/Shinshinto transition period and died in 1798 according to Markus Sesko's lapanese sword smiths records...

 

So as you can see, even if this naginata is completely uninteresting to some, it can still be discussed objectively.