NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis fine set of fuchi kashira depicts a charming oyako dori, or parent and chicks, composition and is the work of Iwamoto Hirotoshi, bearing both his signature and kaō. The subject is rendered with considerable character, showing the parent bird accompanied by its chicks in a natural and intimate scene. The fittings are constructed on a finely worked shakudō nanakoji ground, its dark surface providing an elegant backdrop for the contrasting decoration. The birds are executed with shibuichi suemon, creating raised applied elements with a softer silver grey tone against the shakudō. Further details are enriched through zōgan and kin iroe, with carefully placed gold accents highlighting the plumage and smaller elements of the composition. The combination of different alloys, textures, and colours gives the relatively small scene an impressive degree of depth and visual interest. The subject of a parent bird accompanied by its young is particularly appealing within Japanese decorative art. Rather than relying upon an overtly martial theme, the design presents a peaceful scene of nature and family life. The attentive parent surrounded by its chicks creates a composition associated with familial affection, care, and prosperity, while also demonstrating the ability of the metalworker to transform an everyday natural subject into sophisticated sword furniture. The set is signed Iwamoto Hirotoshi with kaō, identifying the maker with the Iwamoto school, an important Edo period tradition of kinkō metalwork known for highly accomplished pictorial designs and sophisticated use of soft metal alloys.
NihontoWatchOffered by Toukentakarado
3 on the market
Iwamoto
Edo
Signed
Hozon
As written by the shop
Machibori · Musashi · around 1776-1815
3 pieces on the market now
Where Kanri 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
12 pieces on the market now
The Iwamoto school was a house of Edo machibori (町彫) metalworkers, founded in the early eighteenth century by Iwamoto Chūbei, a pupil of the Yokoya school, and continuing through eight generations of headmasters. As the NBTHK setsumei state repeatedly, "the Iwamoto line was originally of the Yokoya tradition," and the school's history turns on a succession crisis within that lineage: when the fifth-generation master Ryōkan died young, his junior fellow-disciple succeeded as sixth head of the Iwamoto house. This was Iwamoto Konkan, born in Edo in Enkyō 1 (1744), whose original family name was Asai and who first used the name Ryō (also read Ryōun) before changing it to Konkan. " He also signed with the art names Shunshōdō (春曙堂) and Hakuhōtei (白峯亭). The line continued through Iwamoto Kanri, common name Kijūrō, who first studied under Konkan, was later adopted by him, and succeeded as seventh head; the school's orbit also included the pupil Konju, who lived at Kōjimachi in Edo. The school's collective style rests on this synthesis of Yokoya sculptural discipline and Nara-school carving methods. Its preferred vocabulary is shakudō (赤銅) with nanako-ji (魚子地) ground, worked in takabori (高彫) high relief with suemon-zōgan (据紋象嵌) and polychrome iroe (色絵) in gold, silver, shibuichi (四分一), and suaka (素銅) copper; but the setsumei attest an unusually broad range of grounds — shibuichi and iron in polished migaki-ji (磨地), chirimen-ishime-ji[[c:1]], brass ishime-ji, and gold — together with sukidashi-bori (鋤出彫), sukishita-bori, relief-carved openwork, fine kebori (毛彫), and inlaid aogai (青貝) mother-of-pearl, set even into the eyes of fish.
The distinctive triangular chisel (sankaku-tagane 三角鏨) recurs as a house hallmark, as does a masterful command of negative space and calculated composition, with obverse and reverse conceived in deliberate contrast. Favored subjects are drawn from nature observed with startling fidelity: the uo-zukushi (魚尽) arrays of fish "rendered with such precision that one feels each individual species could be identified," each scale and backbone carved line by line; herons among reeds; pheasants under a hazy moon; carp gliding through waterweed; alongside shishi, orchids, chrysanthemums, dragons, landscape narratives such as cormorant fishing and the Chōfu Tamagawa, and even Buddhist imagery of Dainichi Nyorai and Niō. The setsumei judge Konkan to have "ranked among the foremost artists of the naturalistic, sketch-from-life approach," while a fully matched aoi-crest mounting shows the school equally capable of orthodox, formal commissioned work. The Iwamoto school's place in the tosogu canon rests above all on Konkan, counted among the leading Edo metalworkers and habitually praised in the setsumei with the phrase "Edomae no iki" — the quintessential stylishness of Edo; his fame is further reflected in the extensive forgery of his signature. Works transmitted in the Tsugaru and Sakai daimyō families attest the esteem his oeuvre commanded. The tradition did not end with him: Kanri "followed his teacher's manner closely and, after Konkan, produced a number of powerful works," while Konju's carving, "taut and controlled" in the master's likeness, carried the inlay-centered iroe methods forward. Wide-ranging in subject and prolific in output, the school stands as one of the defining expressions of late-Edo machibori art — a lineage in which the strengths of the Yokoya and Nara traditions were fused into a single, unmistakably urbane style. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Konkan昆寛 | — | 50 |
| Kanri寛利 | 1776-1815 | 3 |
| Masakatsu政克 (Masamoto | — | 0 |
| Soei宗栄 | — | 0 |
| Ryokan良寛 | — | 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 siteWe offer a three-day inspection period. To initiate a return, you must notify us within three days of the package being delivered. Once we confirm your request, you have seven days to ship the item back to us. The item must be returned in its original condition, including all accompanying documents, certificates, and packaging materials. The buyer is responsible for covering the shipping costs and insurance for the return shipment.
¥350,000