¥750,000

Tracked across 81 dealers worldwide · price history · sold archive

Specifications

About the school

Dotanuki School同田貫派

The Dōtanuki (同田貫) line took shape in Kikuchi District of Higo Province toward the close of the Muromachi period and carried its activity forward into the *shintō* era, spanning the Momoyama transition into early Edo. The setsumei of the group's own blades name several of its hands: Ueno no Suke, whose dated work runs from Tenshō through Keichō and who is therefore described as a maker active across the divide between old and new traditions; Fujiwara Masakuni, treated as a leading smith of the school; Masahiro, whose *naginata* the register notes is absent from the *meikan* and so supplements that omission; and Matahachi. The accounts further list Samanosuke, Hyōbu, Matahachizaemon, and Kunikatsu among the line's signing smiths. The group is repeatedly framed as a representative Kyūshū lineage of the period, working in the domain that would become the ground of Higo's later military culture. The shared vocabulary of the setsumei is plain and consistent. The *sugata* is described as sturdy and uncompromising, *bukotsu*, with wide *mihaba*, thick *kasane*, and ample *hiraniku*, and little difference between base and tip width; on swords the *sakizori* can be pronounced and the *chū-kissaki* extended, while the spears and large *naginata* show flaring, full heads. The *kitae* is *itame*, often with *nagare* and *mokume* mixed in and a tendency toward *hada-dachi*, with *ji-nie* adhering and *chikei* at times visible. The *hamon* moves between two registers: a *notare* base mixed with *ko-gunome*, *ko-chōji*, and *ko-togariba*, and a quieter *suguha* with *ko-ashi* and *yō*; across both the *nioiguchi* tends to be tight, *nie* gathers densely, and *sunagashi*, *kinsuji*, *tobiyaki*, and *muneyaki* recur. The hand is recognized by this combination of robust unrefined build and a *midareba* whose tight *nioiguchi* and clustered *nie* read as rustic rather than ornamental. The register notes a *shizumi-gokoro*, a subdued tendency in both *ji* and *ha*, that lends a restrained austerity. For kantei, the diagnostic cluster is the heavy, broad *sugata* with thick *kasane* and full *hiraniku*, the standing *itame* with *nagare*, the tight clustered *nioiguchi*, and the bold inscriptions cut with a thick chisel, often opening with the two raised characters "Kyūshū." The setsumei return again and again to cutting power: the sharpness of these blades is highly praised, and they are recorded as practical weapons carried into use. Provenance survives in mounted form, including a *naginata* by Masakuni accompanied by a black lacquer mounting with gold *maki-e* judged contemporary with the blade, and a Matahachi *naginata* with its black-lacquered pole mounting. Within the line, individual works are singled out as superior examples that convey the school's character, the Ueno no Suke katana of Keichō 16 being read as exceptionally fine among its peers. The register places Dōtanuki as a Higo lineage whose unadorned strength and cutting reputation hold a recognized standing in the *shintō*-period record.

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