NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThese are small menuki measuring less than 2 cm in both height and width, and I believe they are likely de-menuki not intended to be wrapped under tsuka-ito. While one might expect the carving to be more intricate due to the small size, the fur is rendered only with kebori. Nevertheless, I feel a sense of skill in the way the monkey's body is deformed to this extent. However, the execution of the facial expressions is truly impressive. The skill involved in focusing on the minute details that allow one to immediately identify them as monkeys through their facial gestures can be summed up in one word: masterful. It is remarkable how the individual character of the faces is carved within a world of just a few millimeters. And the chestnuts... while "monkeys in a chestnut forest" is a common motif, the execution of the chestnuts is more polite compared to others, and the gestures of the hands holding the branches are not inferior to the metalworkers of the late Edo and Meiji periods who are said to possess high skill. The color is also quite deep black, and perhaps because no kin-iroe was applied other than to the eyeballs, there is no peeling, giving a clean impression. These are good menuki. The kanteisho says Goto and Momoyama, but in terms of age, they probably go back no further than early Edo. At first glance they look old, but the ashi (ne) peeking through the mugi-urushi that has not been fully removed are rectangular shapes with the corners rounded off and tidied up. This is clearly different from the crude ashi of the pre-Momoyama period. However, that would not apply if only the ashi were later replacements. Also, what does it mean by Goto and Momoyama? If it were Goto and early Edo, it would be exactly as per the NBTHK explanation, but I recall that Goto from before Momoyama were classified as Ko-Goto (the first six generations of the Goto family)... has the definition of Ko-Goto been changed to the first three generations and earlier? Well, this is a rather meaningless nitpick (it is not good to be a fault-finder).
NihontoWatchOffered by Asahi Token
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Goto School
Momoyama
Unsigned
Tokuho (NBTHK)
As written by the shop
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Iebori · Yamashiro
315 pieces on the market now
The Goto house stands as the preeminent dynasty of sword-fitting makers in the history of Japanese metalwork, an unbroken lineage of seventeen generations spanning from the founding master Yujo (1440--1512), who served Ashikaga Yoshimasa amid the refined culture of Higashiyama, through the final head Hojo (1816--1856) in the closing years of the Tokugawa shogunate. From its inception the house served successive rulers -- Ashikaga shoguns, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the Tokugawa -- and its productions became known as iebori, the "house carving" distinguished from machibori made for ordinary public demand. The fourth master Kojo first introduced warrior subjects and employed preparatory drawings by Kano Motonobu and Eitoku; the fifth master Tokujo struck the celebrated "Tokujo kiri" hallmark upon oban gold coinage for Hideyoshi; the third master Joshin -- "not only a metalworker but also a warrior" -- was killed in battle against the Azai clan in 1562. The seventh master Kenjo, praised since ancient times as a restorer of the house's fortunes (the finest exponents being termed Yuko-ken), traveled to Kaga and laid the foundations for the later flourishing of the Kaga-Goto tradition, while the tenth master Renjo carried the mainline from Kyoto to Edo, where it would remain through the seventeenth generation. The eleventh master Tsujo bridged the formal tradition with the expressive spirit of the Genroku era, and the thirteenth master Enjo served as an authoritative appraiser, authenticating works by earlier masters across the entire succession. The collective technical vocabulary of the Goto house is built upon shakudo nanako-ji grounds of extraordinarily minute and dense stippling, upon which motifs are rendered in takabori with kin-iroe and gin-iroe, frequently supplemented by solid gold (kinmuku) construction and kin'ura gilt backing. The sculptural manner is characterized by what the NBTHK repeatedly describes as "high mountains and deep valleys" -- a modulation of volume in which modeling rises emphatically while recesses are cut deep and clean, producing forceful and crisply articulated relief.
" Sojo inherited and tightened these forms with controlled elegance; Joshin amplified them to conspicuously larger scale with claws that are "characteristically large and long, with the tips splayed open"; Eijo brought a finer, more delicate precision to compositions of equally grand ambition; and Kenjo introduced a distinctive shosha quality -- austere and urbane -- that distinguished his work from the first six generations. The later masters sustained this discipline: Teijo's calm restraint and distinctive coloristic effects, Renjo's forty-five years of deeply worked takabori capturing instantaneous warrior movements, Tsujo's innovative left-right spreading compositions, and Hojo's reintroduction of machibori aesthetics into the official house style all demonstrate the lineage's capacity for renewal within tradition. The Goto house's enduring significance resides not merely in the technical excellence of individual masters but in the institutional continuity of a critical tradition sustained across four centuries. Works from the "upper six generations" (kami roku-dai) through Eijo established the canonical repertoire of prescribed okitemono motifs -- dragons, lions, paulownia crests, Kurikara, and auspicious figures -- while successive heads served simultaneously as makers and authenticators, issuing origami certificates and kiwame-mei inscriptions that themselves constitute important documents of connoisseurship. Valuations reaching one thousand kan and transmission through such distinguished collections as the Konoike, Shimazu, Tokugawa, and Maeda houses attest to the unrivaled esteem in which Goto metalwork has been held. Even Sokujo, whose tenure lasted barely four years before his death at thirty-two, left a small but distinguished body of work authenticated across eight subsequent generations of headmasters. From Yujo's founding vision through Hojo's final flowering -- whose technical command the NBTHK judges the finest from the twelfth master onward, betraying "not the slightest hint of the approaching conclusion" of the unbroken line -- the Goto house represents the defining standard against which all Japanese metalwork is measured, the wellspring from which the entire sokeN kinkO tradition flows. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Goto Joshin後藤乗真 | 1512-1562 | 68 |
| Goto Yujo後藤祐乗 | 1440-1512 | 41 |
| Goto Sojo後藤宗乗 | 1461-1538 | 56 |
| Goto Kenjo後藤顕乗 | 1586-1663 | 46 |
| Goto Teijo後藤程乗 | 1603-1673 | 42 |
A Hozon-certified fitting of notably superior craftsmanship and condition, often with signature or workmanship of high reference 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 siteReturns are accepted within 7 days of the item's arrival, provided its condition has not changed since the time of sale. Once the return is confirmed, the payment is promptly refunded to your designated account.