Sendai Kunikane II

仙台国包（二代）

Period: Early Edo period
School: Hongō smithing family
Active Years: Succeeded as head in Shōhō 2 (1645) – died Kanbun 12 (1672)
Tradition: Yamato tradition (Hōshō lineage)

Description

Hongō Kichizaemon, Who Succeeded the First Generation — Sendai Kunikane (Second Generation)

Sendai Kunikane (second generation) was known by the common names Genjirō and Kichizaemon. He was born in Keichō 17 (1612) as the son of the first-generation Sendai Kunikane (Hongō Genzō, later Kichinosuke, 1592–1664), a craftsman retained by the Date clan, the lords of the Sendai domain.

Inheritance of the Family Headship

The first generation retired in Shōhō 2 (1645) and handed the headship of the family to Kichizaemon (second generation). The Kunikane family, Sendai swordsmiths known as the Hongō smiths, was a lineage that, from the first generation through the Meiji period, served as craftsmen retained by the Date clan for 13 generations; the second generation was its successor.

Style

The first generation is said to have studied under Etchū-no-kami Masatoshi of Kyoto and to have forged blades following the Yamato Hōshō tradition, which is said to be a later branch of Yamato Hōshō Gorō; the second generation is thought to have continued this house style. However, the documentary record offers few details on the stylistic differences specific to the second generation.

Assessment

The second generation died in Kanbun 12 (1672) at the age of 61. The signature is cut as “Yamashiro-no-kami Fujiwara Kunikane” and similar forms. As the second head to succeed the first generation in the Sendai Kunikane house, which continued for 13 generations, the second generation is positioned as an important successor in the history of swords of the Sendai domain.