SANKO NIJUHACHI KISHO [PORTRAITS OF TWENTY-EIGHT DRILLERS}

Details

ANONYMOUS Edo Period (19th Century)
Sanko Nijuhachi kisho [Portraits of Twenty-Eight Drillers}
Hanging scroll; ink and colour on silk, minor stains, brocade mount
With signature Morifusa and sealed
17 x 215/8in. (43 x 55cm.)

Literature

For a similar coloured drawing from the W.W. Winkworth Collection, see B.W. Robinson, The Arts of the Japanese Sword (Faber and Faber 1961), pl. 100 and H.J. Joly, Behrens Collection Catalogue , Vol. 1 Part III, Fasc. 1, pl. XI.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This is based on a rare print signed Kitao Shigemasa (1739-1820) depicting the same subject which was commissioned from the artist by Noda Shirobei Nariaki, a connoisseur of Japanese metalwork and the author of Kinko Kantei Hiketsu, a book on the Goto family of sword fitting makers. The metal artists portrayed are, clockwise from the top, Yokoya Somin, Tsu Jimpo, Nomura Tomoyoshi, Ozaki Naomasa, Ichinomiya Nagatsune, Tsuchiya Yasuchika, Yoshioka Buzen, Hamano Masayuki, his pupil Hamano Noriyuki, Furukawa Genchin, Umetada Naritsugu, Hosono Sozaemon (Masamori), Iwamoto Ryokan, Nara Masanaga, Ishiyama Mototada, Nara Soyu, Nara Toshimitsu, Nara Tsuneshige, Goto Seijo, Mito Michnaga, Murakami Jochiku, Omori Terumasa, Inagawa Naokatsu, Yanagawa Naomasa, Yokoya Soyo II, Sugiura Joi, Hashinobe Masasada and Nara Toshinaga.

Among these masters of metalwork, Tsuchiya Yasuchika, Yokoya Somin, Sugiura Joi and Nara Toshinaga are still counted amongst the greatest metalworkers.

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