* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Muramasa II
村正（二代）
- Period
- Late Muromachi period
- School
- Sengo swordsmiths
- Active Years
- Tenbun era (c. early 16th century)
- Tradition
- Sengo school
Description
Muramasa II, Heir to the Sengo School
Muramasa II was a member of the Sengo smiths, a group of swordsmiths active in Kuwana, Ise Province, present-day Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture, and is said to have succeeded the first-generation Muramasa. The name Sengo is generally held to derive from Sengo village in Ise, while the local history of Kuwana says it derives from a child that the mother of the first-generation Muramasa received after praying to the thousand-armed Kannon.
Signature and Identifying Features
The Muramasa school is said to have varied the calligraphic style of the signature characters for mura (村) and masa (正) from generation to generation, and it is said that the generation of an extant work can be determined from the style of its inscription and the finishing of its nakago.
Style
The hamon is tempered as gunome-midare with ko-notare mixed in, with ko-ashi and nioi-guchi active and ko-nie present, demonstrating refined forging technique.
Evaluation
The Muramasa name lineage continued from the late Muromachi period until at least the Kanbun era of the early Edo period, and is said to have numbered six or more generations. The second generation is one of those who supported its early phase.