NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis work is a tsuba featuring a design of two cranes with kin-iroe suemon. The omote is shakudo nanako-ji and the ura is shakudo migaki-ji, with one flying crane positioned at the top and one at the bottom of the omote. The upper crane holds a single flower in its beak, while the lower crane looks upward, creating a composition where their gazes meet. The detailed craftsmanship extending to the faces, feathers, and legs is one of the highlights. As expected of the Yanagawa school style, which is most representative for suemon takabori on shakudo nanako-ji, this is a sincerely crafted work. Sano Naoyoshi was the founder of the Sano family of metalworkers, which formed a major branch within the Yokoya school. The school's style is shakudo nanako-ji suemon iroe takabori, with designs such as horses, tigers, cranes, shishi, and ho-o; many works are closer to the Yanagawa school, the top disciples of their origin, than to the Yokoya school itself. Typically, the works center on shakudo-ji with kin-gin iroe takabori, and it is a school that produces works strictly according to the okite. Work: Tsuba, made of Shakudo Metal smith: Sano Naoyoshi who was a apprentice in Yokoya school and became a founder of Sano school after independence of Yokoya school Two cranes are placed up and down in front of the surface and each one seems to see each other. From head to legs in the cranes, the cranes showcase the elaborate works and techniques are well down as a disciple of Yokoya school.
NihontoWatchOffered by Sugie Art
3 on the market
Yanagawa Naoyoshi
Signed
Hozon (NBTHK)
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Machibori · around 1670
3 pieces on the market now
Where Naoyoshi stands among comparable artisans: across all of nihontō, and within tradition, era, and period. The tiers (Foremost · Leading · Major · Notable) weigh official designations from the NBTHK and Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, together with historical honors of lasting repute such as the Sansaku and Meibutsu-chō.
Select a lens to see how it's measured.
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.
NBTHK official siteFor purchases made through the website, we accept returns of the item as a cooling-off period within one week of its arrival.
¥850,000