NihontoWatchNihontoWatchSekibun, whose family name was Katsurano and given name was Shozo, was born on Kansei 2 March 3 in Murakami, Echigo Province, as the second son of Katsurano Unken. Raised in a family of metalworkers with an older brother Mitsunaga (Roshu) and a younger brother Chugo (Nanzan), he was a gifted talent blessed with both natural aptitude and environment, and in his youth, he went to Edo to study under the Hamano school. In Bunsei 7 (1824), he received an invitation for employment from the Shonai clan; although he was being recruited by other clans at the time, Sekibun chose the Shonai clan because it was close to his birthplace. As can be understood from this anecdote, he was a master craftsman whose skill was recognized by various clans. According to the Katsurano family history, it is said that Sekibun wore a beard and had an appearance that, at first glance, did not seem like that of an ordinary person. He had the temperament of a master, and it is said that when he felt inclined, he would produce works with single-minded devotion, but when he was not in the mood, he would not create anything no matter who asked him. Although his life was by no means easy, he enjoyed entertaining visiting painters and craftsmen and listening to the state of the country, and he was a person who also possessed a deep compassion, reaching out to travelers in distress by giving them lodging fees or sharing clothing; he loved sake and was said to possess a fierce and openhearted disposition. This work is a tsuba with a color typical of shibuichi, featuring the characters for "Ne" and "Ushi" on the omote side, with a tiger (Tora), rabbit (U), and dragon (Tatsu) carved with skillful katakiribori. On the ura side, the three characters for "Hitsuji", "Inu", and "Mi" are added, and a rooster (Tori), horse (Uma), wild boar (I), and monkey (Saru) are depicted likewise in katakiribori. On the omote side, a playful rabbit is sandwiched between a staring dragon and tiger; on the ura side, a boar, egged on by a monkey, is about to start a race with a horse while waiting for the rooster's call... The composition, which skillfully contains the story of the twelve zodiac signs within a single tsuba, fully demonstrates Sekibun's outstanding skill. With its delicate tagane work and a composition overflowing with playfulness, it is a masterpiece that draws the viewer in at a single glance.
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Hamano Sekibun
Machine translation from the shop's Japanese · may contain errors ·
Machibori · Dewa · around 1670
5 pieces on the market now
Katsurano Sekibun, who employed the art name Yurakusai, was born in Kansei 2 (1790) at Murakami in Echigo Province. As a young man he traveled to Edo and studied under the Hamano family, acquiring the foundational discipline of that distinguished lineage. From his adoption of the art name Yurakusai, it is further conjectured that he undertook training in Kyoto, broadening his technical and aesthetic formation beyond a single school. In Bunsei 7 (1824) he entered the service of the Sakai family of Shonai domain as a retained artisan (kakae-ko), and from Koka 2 (1845) onward he settled permanently in Tsuruoka, where he continued to work until his death in Meiji 8 (1875) at the remarkable age of eighty-seven. For his inscriptions he used a distinctive cursive hand modeled on the calligraphic style of Kameda Bosai, the celebrated scholar of his native Echigo.
Sekibun devoted himself to the study of Tsuchiya Yasuchika, refining his skills with that master's example as his ideal, and produced an oeuvre in which tsuba are especially numerous. For the ground metal he frequently employed iron and shakudo, and he "excelled especially at applying iroe to a style of strongly modeled high-relief carving." His technical repertoire further encompassed sukidashi-bori, katakiribori, nikuai-bori, and various forms of zogan (inlay). Among pictorial subjects he favored animals and birds, with tigers and newts (imori) counted as particular strengths. His celebrated "Dawn Crow" (Akegarasu) tsuba, conceived as the sky at daybreak with suaka ground and shakudo suemon-zogan crows beating toward the sun, is singled out by the NBTHK alongside his octagonal newt-design tsuba as among his finest achievements.
The NBTHK consistently characterizes Sekibun's work as possessing a "high degree of refinement" in both composition and carving method, praising his "compositional command and carving skill" as "truly superb." His productions are recognized for their distinctive vitality -- an intensity of expression deemed "indeed characteristic of Akafumi" -- realized through the full mobilization of a wide range of carving methods together with inlay and polychrome metalwork techniques[[c:2]]. Whether working on intimate tsuba or ambitious multi-component soroi kanagu such as his Twelve Zodiac fitting set, Sekibun's works are commended as fully demonstrating the "sharpness of the maker's abilities[[c:3]]," securing his place as one of the most accomplished provincial metalworkers of the late Edo period.
Where Sekibun 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
32 pieces on the market now
The Hamano school of machibori carving was established in mid-Edo Edo by Hamano Masazui (浜野政隨), commonly known as Tarōbei, an exceptionally gifted pupil of Nara Toshihisa. As the Edo Kinkō Meifu states of him that he "thunders through the world," Masazui won widespread renown as one of the "Four Guardian Kings of Nara" (Nara Shitennō). Training many disciples and employing numerous art names—including Otsuryūken, Aji-zumi, Kankei, Rifūdō, Yūkotei, Shūhōsai, Hankei-shi, and Isshunan—he formed what came to be known as the Hamano school, establishing one of the principal lineages of machibori artistry and founding an independent house. " Works are rendered by means of yōbori (sculptural carving) upon varied grounds—gold-and-silver imo-tsugi-ji, solid gold (kinmuku)—with details frequently treated in the in'yō-kon mode, suggesting the early Gotō masters as models.
The carving is executed with "ample, well-judged volume (nikudori)" and "exceptionally full, weighty presence," while applied metal (okigane) in silver and shakudō with shakudō iroe tightens pictorial fields and imparts additional movement. Later Hamano artists such as Katsurano Akafumi maintained this technical versatility, favoring polychrome inlay applied to high-relief compositions. " The NBTHK repeatedly notes that works "clearly demonstrate the high level of technique," "amply demonstrate advanced technical mastery," and possess "a composed dignity"—attestations to the school's sustained excellence across generations and its enduring place within the broader machibori tradition. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Shozui政随 | — | 17 |
| Sekibun赤文 | 1670 | 8 |
| Noriyuki矩随 | — | 4 |
| Naotoshi直寿 | — | 0 |
| Naoharu直春 | — | 0 |
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