三池 刀 重要刀剣
¥9,500,000
Tracked across 81 dealers worldwide · price history · sold archive
Specifications
70.8 cm
1.4 cm
3.2 cm
2.2 cm
About the maker
Miike Mitsuyo光世
Miike Denta Mitsuyo was a swordsmith who resided at Miike in Chikugo Province. The founder is identified as a renowned master of the late Heian period, whose representative work is the celebrated *meibutsu* Odenta, transmitted in the Maeda family. "Mitsuyo" was not a single individual: the same name was successively borne from the Kamakura period into the Muromachi period. Across all eras, signed works are exceedingly few. One branch of later smiths relocated to Aki Province, as documented by dated tanto from Meitoku 2 (1391). The school's traditional style effectively comes to an end with the Nanbokucho period; in the Muromachi period, little of its former character remains. From the time of the Odenta onward, the Miike style shares traits common to early Kyushu workmanship. The forging is *itame* that flows conspicuously, at times inclining toward *masame*, with *ji-nie* presenting a "sticky" texture; *shirake-utsuri* (whitish utsuri) is characteristic. The *hamon* is predominantly *suguha-cho* in *ko-nie-deki*, with a tendency toward *hotsure* and elements of *kuichigai-ba*, showing a *nioiguchi* with a *shizumi* (subdued) inclination. The *boshi* runs straight and returns in *ko-maru*. An individuality of the school can be observed in its preference for carving wide, comparatively shallow *bo-hi*, often accompanied by auxiliary *soe-hi*, executed in *kaki-nagashi* or *kaki-toshi*. The blade form characteristically shows a wide *mihaba* with a compact kissaki forming an *ikubi* (boar's-neck) appearance. The NBTHK characterizes even later-generation works as preserving the traditional manner in both *ji* and *ha*, and notes the school's stylistic continuity from the Heian through the Nanbokucho period. Across the corpus, the Miike school occupies a distinctive position among early Kyushu traditions, unified by the flowing grain, subdued nioiguchi, and broad sculptural grooves that define its identity from the time of its celebrated founder onward.
