NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThe Yanagawa school is a group of Edo kinkou that developed around Yanagawa Naomasa, who is famous as a pupil of Yokoya Somin. They specialized in a style of applying takabori iroe to a shakudo nanako-ji, and flourished until the late Edo period through precise carving techniques and refined designs. This work is a fuchigashira depicting bamboo stalks and leaves in takabori iroe on a precise shakudo nanako-ji. On the kashira, slender bamboo leaves are arranged in a carefree manner, while the fuchi features carvings of bamboo stalks, nodes, and leaves spreading to the left and right. By carefully expressing the overlapping leaves and leaf veins and effectively applying kin-iroe, it shows a beautiful contrast with the black shakudo nanako-ji. The realistic expression of the bamboo and the refined style of applying takabori iroe to an exquisite nanako-ji are consistent with the Yanagawa school. A dignified bamboo-design fuchigashira where the brilliance of kin-iroe is in harmony. In Reiwa 3 (2021), it was attributed to Den Yanagawa and passed the Hozon Tosogu shinsa.
NihontoWatchOffered by Touken Matsumoto
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Yanagawa
Edo
Musashi
Unsigned
Hozon (NBTHK)
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Machibori · Edo
60 pieces on the market now
The Yanagawa (柳川) school ranks among the principal machibori ("town carving") lineages of Edo metalwork, arising in the mid-Edo period as a direct offshoot of the Yokoya house. Its founder, Yanagawa Naomasa (1692–1757), studied under Yoshioka Inaba-no-suke and under Yokoya Sōmin, and established himself in the Otamagaike district of Edo. The NBTHK setsumei consistently locate the school within this filiation, styling it "the Yanagawa branch within the Yokoya lineage" (横谷門下柳川派) and naming Naomasa as the family founder (家祖). Naomasa had no biological heirs and devoted himself to the training of disciples, and the successive heads of the house inherited the character nao (直). " The collective idiom of the school is the classic Yokoya-derived vocabulary of Edo kinkō work: grounds of shakudō (赤銅) dressed in nanako-ji (魚子地), high-relief carving (takabori) — frequently executed as applied motifs (suemon) — and polychrome inlay (zōgan iroe) in gold, silver, and shibuichi, deployed across kozuka, kōgai, fuchi-kashira, menuki, and tsuba. The school was likewise renowned for excellent katakiribori (single-cut carving), and its repertoire favored classical subjects: shishi (lions) with peonies, tigers, Chinese sages, and figural themes such as the Seven Lucky Gods.
Fidelity to the manner of Sōmin remained the school's touchstone across generations. " Equally characteristic is the school's mode of transmission, whereby pupils composed their art-names from characters granted by the Yanagawa masters. The measure of the Yanagawa school's significance lies as much in what it engendered as in its own production. Ishiguro Masatsune, a pupil of Katō Naotsune of the Yanagawa school, formed his name by combining masa (政) from Naomasa and tsune (常) from Naotsune; the setsumei record that he "moved beyond the manner of the Yanagawa school, devising innovative treatments particularly within bird-and-flower subjects," founding the Ishiguro lineage, which "continued to prosper through successive generations until the Meiji period" and produced the celebrated "twin peaks" Masayoshi and Masaaki. " Through these ramifying lines, the Yanagawa school served as the essential conduit by which the Yokoya manner of takabori iroe on shakudō nanako-ji grounds was disseminated across the late-Edo metalworking world. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Haruaki春明 | — | 18 |
| Naoharu直春 | — | 7 |
| Naomasa直政 | — | 5 |
| Akinori/Meijo明乗 | — | 0 |
| Akio明雄 | — | 0 |
Certifies a genuine fitting worth preserving: a correct signature, or, if unsigned, an identifiable era and school, with recognized artistic and craft value.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
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