This kogai, made by Horie Okinari, features a kake-mamori design in high relief on a shakudō nanako ground. Horie Okinari was a late Edo-period metalsmith who studied under prominent masters and served the Hachisuka family. The piece is accompanied by an NBTHK Hozon Certificate.
Certificate reading — 銘 堀江興成(花押) 行年六十三才
NihontoWatchmei · act. Meiwa–Tenmei (c. 1770s-80s)
Omori Horie Okinari
act. Meiwa–Tenmei (c. 1770s-80s)
Signed
Hozon (NBTHK)
Machibori
1 piece on the market now
Horie Kosei first studied under Hamano Masayuki, using the name Masusui. In Meiwa 6 (1769), while still in his twenties, he encountered the death of his teacher Masayuki, after which he newly entered the school of Omori Eishu. He was granted permission to use one character from his master's name and changed his art name to Eishun. He also became affiliated as a disciple of Ozaki Naomasa, a craftsman of Goto lineage, absorbing the methods of the mainline house-carving tradition. After establishing himself independently he adopted the name Kosei. Later he served as a kakae-ko -- an officially retained craftsman -- of the Hachisuka daimyo house of Awa Province, and trained many pupils and successors within his circle.
Kosei's technical command reflects the convergence of three lineages: the Hamano school's naturalism, the Omori school's structural discipline, and the Goto family's dignified takabori and iroe methods. His preferred materials are shakudo nanako-ji grounds enriched with polychrome inlay using gold, silver, and suaka, often finished with reverse gilding (kin'ura). Compositions range from matched sets of saddled horses rendered with gold crests in the Goto manner, to the Twelve Months of Birds and Flowers -- an hereditary treasure of the Hachisuka house -- based on poetic designs from Fujiwara no Teika's waka. In his later years, works such as sanshomono with shishi motifs employ kezuritsugi construction combining gold and shakudo to create visual variation. The menuki, frequently executed in solid gold (kinmuku), display richly modeled sculptural carving (yobori) of full, ample form.
The NBTHK consistently characterizes Kosei's production as embodying a dignified style modeled after Goto taste, yet enlivened by the innovative character associated with machibori. His works are described as possessing "high dignity" and "an elegant, courtly taste," with motifs treated in a "taut, crisp expression" that demonstrates "the full range of his abilities." Even in pieces that strongly emulate the Goto family style, the assessments note skill "well worth close attention" and a "chic, sophisticated design sense" with an "urbane, polished finish" -- qualities that distinguish Kosei as a consummate synthesizer of the major mid-Edo metalworking traditions.
Where Horie Okinari 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.
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Machibori · Edo
17 pieces on the market now
The Ōmori school was one of the great machibori (town-carving) lineages of Edo, founded in the first half of the eighteenth century by Ōmori Terumasa (大森英昌, also read Eishō), a direct disciple of Yokoya Sōmin. " A dated tsuba of Meiwa 7 (1770) anchors his mature activity, and the workshop remained rooted in the shogunal capital throughout its history — his pupil Hidetomo proudly signed works "Tōto, by the Sumida River"[[c:1]]. The headship then passed through Hidenaga to Hidemitsu (英満), Teruhide's fifth son, carrying the line deep into the late Edo period. " Its defining invention is the strikingly three-dimensional wave design known as Ōmori-nami (大森浪), the "Ōmori waves," together with sunago-zōgan gold-dust inlay executed in the kinkeshi manner and the flush gold inlay evocative of maki-e lacquer called nashiji-zōgan or chirigami-zōgan — techniques devised, the setsumei state, to heighten the elegant, courtly taste of the work. The judges single out "the weighty takabori carving characteristic of the Ōmori style," deployed across a repertoire spanning peony-and-shishi compositions, birds of prey amid rising sun and surging waves, tigers in bamboo, waves with myriad fish (uozukushi), the vanguard crossing of the Uji River, Fan Kuai at the Banquet at Hongmen, and the treasure ship of the Seven Lucky Gods.
Later generations show measured evolution: Hidemitsu "preserved the carving methods of his forebears while accepting changes in contemporary taste," turning also to iron ishime-ji grounds in sukidashi-bori and collaborating with the painter Kanō Dōhaku Aishin, whose preparatory drawings attest to exchange with the painting ateliers of the day; substitute works (daisaku) by his disciple Ōmori Mitsutoki under the master's signature reveal a flourishing workshop practice. The school's standing is confirmed at the highest levels of patronage: a ceremonial hosodachi mounting transmitted in the Ii family of Hikone, its entire suite of fittings by Teruhide with the clan's tachibana crest in takabori and gold iroe, documents the Ōmori masters as makers of daimyo ceremonial equipment. From the atelier radiated an exceptionally influential teaching lineage: Hidetomo (Ryūrinsai Ōmori Sadabei), recorded in the Kōto Kinkō Meifu as "a foremost disciple of Teruhide"; the Mito-branch Moriyama retainer Otsuzuka Hisanori, whose "dense, richly wrought inlay reached a uniquely individual realm" and drew praise in the Natsuo Chōkin-dan; Horie Kōsei, who entered the Ōmori school after Hamano Masayuki's death and later, as retained craftsman of the Hachisuka family of Awa, "trained many pupils of his own school"; and Izumi Hidetoshi, who studied under both Teruhide and Hidetomo. Through these channels the Ōmori manner — above all its sculptural waves and sumptuous relief — passed into the broader current of late-Edo machibori metalwork, securing the school's place as one of the most powerful branches of the Yokoya tradition in the tosogu canon. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Teruhide英秀 | — | 15 |
| Chizuka Hisanori遅塚久則 | 1725-1795 | 9 |
| Horie Okinari堀江興成 | — | 7 |
| Terumitsu英満 | — | 4 |
| Terumasa英昌 | — | 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 you wish to return an item, please notify us within 3 days of receipt. After this period we cannot accept cancellations. Please ship the return to us within 5 business days. Cancellation is conditional on the item being kept in the same condition as at the time of sale, so please handle it with care.
¥250,000
