中島春英は忠次と称し、柳川家三代目の直春に学んで江戸向島に独立した、感性優れた作家の一人。繊細で華やかな金銀の色絵を加えた高彫を駆使し、我が国の自然美を表現した。この小柄も柳川流の精密な描法が活きた作。飛翔する鶴の背後は綺麗に揃った赤銅魚子地で、澄みきった冬の天空。殊に色絵の使い方が巧みで首と翼に一筋の銀色絵を加え、翼の表現を微妙に違えている。阿吽の相は伝統的。金小縁と裏哺金も傷みがなく、絵画調の画面に重厚感を与えている。
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Yanagawa Haruhide
Edo
Musashi
Signed
Hozon (NBTHK)
As written by the shop
Machibori · Musashi
1 piece on the market now
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 siteIf, due to our fault, the item differs significantly from its proper condition, the item may be returned. Cooling-off is within one week of the item's arrival.