Lot Essay
Harutoshi was a student of Harunari. The Hirata were a very important family in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. Their most important contribution was the introduction of the technique of manufacturing shippo. It is said that shippo originated in ancient Egypt. It then reached China and during the Qin period (221-206BC) and the Han period (206BC-220AD), shippo sword fittings were manufactured.
A Tang period Chinese mirror with shippo inlay is a treasure of the Shosoin repository. Shippo [literally seven types of jewel], was originally known as ruri and did not differentiate from glass. The Hokekyo [Buddhist lit] states that the seven jewels are a combination of gold, silver, ruri, hari [crystal or glass], shako [giant clam], sango [coral] and menou [agate].
There is no evidence but the story goes that Hirata Hikoshiro Donin learned shippo techniques either from the Dutch or Koreans. He re-introduced the procedure in the Momoyama period and further developed the technique of transforming opaque enamel to a translucent state.
The Hirata family guarded their secrets jealously and the technique was only handed down from one master to the next. It is a complicated procedure beginning with the production of the base-plate, the drawing of the design, gold wire inlay and the difficult application of the liquid glass.
A Tang period Chinese mirror with shippo inlay is a treasure of the Shosoin repository. Shippo [literally seven types of jewel], was originally known as ruri and did not differentiate from glass. The Hokekyo [Buddhist lit] states that the seven jewels are a combination of gold, silver, ruri, hari [crystal or glass], shako [giant clam], sango [coral] and menou [agate].
There is no evidence but the story goes that Hirata Hikoshiro Donin learned shippo techniques either from the Dutch or Koreans. He re-introduced the procedure in the Momoyama period and further developed the technique of transforming opaque enamel to a translucent state.
The Hirata family guarded their secrets jealously and the technique was only handed down from one master to the next. It is a complicated procedure beginning with the production of the base-plate, the drawing of the design, gold wire inlay and the difficult application of the liquid glass.