NihontoWatchNihontoWatchCircle-shaped Tsuba that has Kozuka & Kougai holes. A monkey is wearing clothes like a human, and he is standing in the clouds. His name is 孫悟空 (Sun Wukong), the main character of the full-length novel 西遊記 (Saiyuuki, Journey to the West). He was born from a particular stone, and he learned skills such as the art of transformation. You would find that he brings a stick in his right hand. It is called 如意棒 (Nyoibou), and it is a telescopic pole. He was imprisoned in the mountains for 500 years because of the wrath of the heavens. However, he was allowed to become a disciple of 三蔵法師 (Sanzou Houshi, priest) and played a role in supporting his journey. Although he has a violent and rebellious personality, it is said that he also valued courtesy and morals. On the backside of this Tsuba, you could see a small devil. It seems this devil is trying to run away from Sun Wukong. The wind flutters at the feet of the demon, and it directs a lively motion. This scene might be quoted from the Journey to the West. We hope you would be attracted to this Tsuba’s design and immerse yourself in the world of this story.
NihontoWatchOffered by Samurai Museum
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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 |
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