Japanese Sword - Horikawa Kunitoki - NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

国時（堀川） Horikawa Kunitoki NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

SCHOOL	Horikawa
PAPER/CLASSIFICATION	NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
PERIOD	Shinto, circa Keicho (1596-1615)
MEI	Kunitoki
FORM	Katana
NAGASA	76.3 cm
SUGATA	Shinogi-zukuri
SORI	Tori-zori
SORI MEASUREMENT	1.3 cm
MUNE	Iori
KASANE	7 mm
MOTOHABA	3.1 cm
SAKIHABA	2.2 cm
NAKAGO CONDITION	Ubu
NAKAGO SHAPE	Standard with Kuri-jiri
MEKUGIANA	One
YASURIME	Sujikai

Hamon :  Ko-nie deki sugu ko-gunome. The hamon is hotsure and there is yubashiri and nijuba. The nioi-guchi is bright and clear. The Horikawa trait of mizukage can be seen in the koshi.

Boshi :   Sugu ko-midare and ko-maru with a short kaeri.

Kitae :   Itame hada with ji-nie and zanguri texture.

About this sword :  Horikawa Kunitoki was a pupil of Horikawa Kunihiro, who is said to be the father of the Shinto period. Horikawa Kunihiro trained a large number of excellent smiths. These include: Horikawa Kuniyasu, Echigo no kami Kuntomo, Dewa Daijo Kunimichi, Osumi no Jo Masahiro, Shodai Kunisuke as well as Shodai Kunisada. There are very few surviving works of Kunitoki. It is thought that he was a swordsmith who never branched out on his own. He would have assisted in the Horikawa forge and completed daisaku in Kunihiro's twilight years. This sword is characteristic of the Kunihiro school, with a slight hotsure in the hamon pattern, zanguri feel to the hada texture, ko-nie deki, bright Nioi-guchi and is a well-made katana overall. There are very few remaining works bearing the signature of Kunitoki, making this a work of high empirical value. We found two reference examples in the Horikawa Kunihiro Taikan (see below). This blade is in full polish. As one can see in the photos, there is some coarse hada on the shinogi-ji and it is of no consequence. There is a fine gold foil double habaki and a deluxe shira-saya. Accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper and a storage bag.