NihontoWatchNihontoWatchIt is a design that looks like vegetables skewered on a stick, and at first I thought it might be a scene of round daikon radishes being dried... like radishes, no, radishes are Western vegetables... while thinking it was something else and checking the kanteisho, it is hozuki (ground cherries). I see, it is hozuki. Upon researching, it seems that in the past, hozuki were used as medicinal herbs and were also edible. (I also have memories of eating them when I was small. Memories of playing by making sounds with the husks of the fruit after eating the insides also come back to life.) The design of this work is a scene of hozuki fruits being dried, with a composition depicting one with an open mouth on the right end, and on the left end, one where the outer shell has become just fibers and the fruit can be seen through it. It is a quite design-oriented composition with good balance and is stylish. The depiction, or rather the hori, is delicate, with the veins of the opened outer shells also drawn, masterfully expressing the texture of the hozuki. The structure is nimai-bari, but I am hesitant to judge whether it is jibane-hamikomi or not. The fine nanako grains are neatly arranged, and there are no traces of the grains being interrupted at the edges of the four sides. And while the mon itself is rozuke suemon, I am impressed by the treatment of the nanako at the edges of these mon. Extremely minute grains, less than half the size of the nanako grains on the jibane, surround the outer circumference of the mon. Furthermore, there is almost no muragari. Wow, just how good was their eyesight; I was surprised by this workmanship. When such polite work is done, I cannot help but praise it. Regardless of the image of materials or luxury, this work is a josaku from the hands of a master. The kiwame of the maker on the kanteisho is Etsujo. He was the second son of Goto Teijo, served the Kaga Kanazawa Domain, and is said to be the practical founder of Kaga Goto. I see, so that is how it is. Now that it is mentioned, the texture of the overall design is not unlike the works of Kaga Goto. Including the theme, I think the layout also has a refined elegance, or rather, it is a design where one feels such things (please understand that the impression received differs for each person). That said, I speculate that this magnificent nanako might not be by Etsujo himself, but by a nanako-shi of his workshop...
NihontoWatchOffered by Asahi Token
17 on the market
Kaga-Goto School
Edo
Kaga
Unsigned
Hozon (NBTHK)
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Iebori · Kaga
17 pieces on the market now
The Kaga Goto (加賀後藤) school arose when the Maeda lords of Kaga Province drew masters of the Goto house from Kyoto into their direct service. The founding figure was Goto Kakujo Mitsunobu (覚乗光信), born in Kyoto in Tensho 17 (1589) as the second son of Chojo. By the directive of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the Goto family's closely guarded techniques, transmitted as an exclusive isshi soden (一子相伝) lineage, were conferred in full upon Kakujo of the Kanbei house, although it was not the main line. Retained by the Maeda at the extraordinary stipend of 150 koku, he was held in particular favour by Lord Maeda Toshitsune. The school's second principal figure was Goto Etsujo Mitsukuni (悦乗光邦), second son of Teijo, who strengthened the Rihei branch. Together with Enjo (演乗) of the Kanbei house, Etsujo alternated yearly between Kyoto and Kanazawa, training many disciples and devoting himself to the development of Kaga metalwork. The designated corpus reveals a body of work executed entirely in the orthodox Goto house manner (o-ie-ryu).
The prevailing ground is shakudo nanako-ji[[c:1]], upon which designs are rendered in takabori with gold iroe (金色絵) and, in polychrome compositions, gold, silver, and shakudo suemon. Gold nanako-ji grounds also appear, as in Kakujo's Kurikara futokoro-mono set upon a gold plate with polychrome accents. " In complete ito-maki tachi koshirae ensembles, the full suite of fittings is worked in shakudo nanako-ji scattered with the family crest in gold sukidashi takabori with kin-iroe, yielding mountings of courtly splendour. " The setsumei attest to the Kaga Goto's significance within the broader Goto tradition. Etsujo's workmanship adheres "exclusively to the orthodox Goto house style," with skill "in no way inferior to that of his father Teijo," and the construction and nikuoki of Mitsukuni's signed mitokoromono match Teijo's own work. " Their rarity, combined with the exceptional technical standard the corpus documents, underscores the Kaga Goto school's place within the Goto legacy and the Edo-period tosogu canon. Learn more →
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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