Nihonto.com is pleased to present this wonderful aikuchi tantô koshirae by two of the most famous artists of the 19thcentury. It is a joint effort of Kano Natsuo (加納夏雄)and Sasayama Tokuoki (篠山篤興). It is a beautifully subdued koshirae of exquisite workmanship.
KANO NATSUO
Kanô Natsuo (加納夏雄) was born on April 24th of the 11th year of Bunsei (1828) as the son of a rice dealer in Kyôto. In the 5th year of Tenpô (1835) at the age of seven, he was adopted by a sword dealer, and grew up learning the sword dealing business. At the age of twelve, he was trained by a goldsmith by the name of Okumura Shôhachi (奥村庄八) and studied the basic skills of metal work such as nanako and uchidashi chiseling.
In the 11th year of Tenpô (1840), he joined the studio of Ikeda Takatoshi (池田孝寿), who belonged to the Ôtsuki school to study the art of ke-bori and katakiri-bori. He was called Toshiaki (寿朗) around this time in his career. While training in metalworking, he also took drawing lessons from Nakajima Raishô (中島来)who belonged to the Maruyama school of painters. He also took Chinese classical literature lessons from Tanimori Tanematsu (谷森種松) about this same time. These backgrounds in different areas account for Natsuo’s (夏雄) workmanship based not only on excellent skills but also on intellectual taste.
Because Natsuo (夏雄) was a commoner rather than of the Samurai class, he classified himself as machi-bori artist rather than an ie-bori artist such as the members of the Gotô family who had the patronage and prestige of being backed by the Tokugawa Shogunate. In around the third year of Kôka (1846), Natsuo (夏雄) opened a workshop in Kyôto and in the first year of Ansei (1854), at the age of 27, he moved to Kanda in Edo.
In the period of the late Edo Shogunate times and into the Meiji era, there were a great many artisans who produced outstanding artistic works. Among them all, however, Natsuo (夏雄) has long been considered to have been the best. Not only did he produce a great many works of art, he also trained and developed a good number of students who became great artists in their own right. Some of the more famous were Kagawa Katsuhiro (香川勝広), Tuskada Shûkyô (塚田秀鏡), Unno Shômin (海野勝珉) and Shôami Katsuyoshi (正阿弥勝義). Natsuo died on February 3, 1898.
The fuchi and kashira on this beautiful koshirae are by Natsuo. The Tokubetsu Hozon papers from the NBTHK describe his work as follows:
Fuchigashira: depicting waves and plovers, signed: Natsuo (夏雄); shibuichi, polished finish, gold and silver hira-zōgan inlay, katakiri and kebori engravings.
SASAYAMA TOKUOKI
The artist who made the kozuka for this koshirae is Sasayama Tokuoki (篠山篤興) of the Ôtsuki School. He was born on November 17th of Bunka 10 (1813). Tokuoki’s (篤興) family names were Sasayama (篠山) and Fujiwara (藤原). He was the eldest son of Yahan Teigogai. Tokuoki came from the Sasayama family (篠山) and entered Kawarabashi Hideoki’s (川原林秀興) workshop in 1827 when he was 15 years old.
In the third year of Bunkyû (1863) he was commissioned to make metal fittings for a tantô ordered by the Emperor Kômei, and was conferred the art name of Ikkôsai (一行斉). Tokuoki‘s skill in inlay work was truly supreme. Most of his works were tsuba including some mokkô-shaped ones produced for mounting on koshirae in the handachi style, which were fashionable in his days. His tsuba entitled “a flock of cranes” depicts five cranes out of a flock with some landing and others already on the ground waiting for the arrival of their flock. The addition of reed grass in the design made the composition more effective. The tsuba is shaped in a fairly large, rounded square shape. The cranes are given in iroeusing gold, silver, and shakudô on a polished iron ground. It is signed Ikkôsei Tokuoki.
His other art names were Bunsen (文僊), Bunsendô (文僊堂), Hôsendô (方仙堂), Manundô (万雲堂), Masaichirô (政一郎),Ôsumi (大泉), Sensai (仙斎), and Shôkatei (松花亭). After the arrival of the Meiji period he was appointed to an official position for promoting industries in Kyotô. He passed away in the 24th year of Meiji (1891) at the age of 79.
Tokuoki was the maker of the kozuka in this koshirae. It is described in the NBTHK papers as follows:
Kozuka: depicting waves under the moon, signed: Tokuoki sei (篤興製, “made by Tokuoki”), shibuichi, polished finish, silver hira-zōgan inlay, kata-kiribori engravings.
The two items described above that were made by these two extremely famous artists are beautifully en-suite with the other kodogu of this koshirae. We don’t know the names of the other artists because the pieces are not signed. They may have been made by either Natsuo or Tokuoki but we will never know for certain without signatures. None-the-less they are beautifully made and en-suite with the pieces discussed above. The lacquer on the saya is artfully done and it as well as the entire koshirae is in excellent condition as it has been treasured for almost 200 years.
As noted, it comes with Tokubetsu Hozon papers issued by the NBTHK in Japan. These papers rank this koshirae as being “especially worthy of preservation”.
The translation of the papers is as follows;
Kuro ko-kizaminuri-saya aikuchi-tantō-koshirae (⿊⼩刻塗鞘合⼝短⼑拵)
Aikuchi-tantō-koshirae featuring a ribbed black-lacquer saya
Fitting(s) on saya: kojiri depicting waves, unsigned, shibuichi, sukidashibori relief, gold and silver iroe accents
Fuchigashira: depicting waves and plovers, signed: Natsuo (夏雄); shibuichi, polished finish, gold and silver hira-zōgan inlay, katakiri and kebori engravings
Menuki: depicting hollyhock and crabs, shakudō, katachibori, gold iroe accents
Kozuka: depicting waves under the moon, signed: Tokuoki sei (篤興製, “made by Tokuoki”), shibuichi, polished finish, silver hira-zōgan inlay, katakiribori engravings.
According to the result of the shinsa committee of our society, we judge this work as authentic and rank it as Tokubetsu-Hozon Tōsōgu.
February 28, 2000
Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, NBTHK (⽇本美術⼑劍保存協會)
PRICE: $21,500.00
NBTHK TOKUBESTSU HOZON CERTIFICATION
