UNSIGNED, MOMOYAMA PERIOD (16TH CENTURY)

Ko-Mino tsuba were not only produced in Mino province, but were made in Kyoto, Sakai, Nara and all the cultural centres of the time. Although the lands were devastated after the Onin wars, the population of Kyoto remained at more than 100,000, those of Tennoji and Sakai were 3,000, Nara had 8,000 and Mino also had a population to equal those cities. It was, therefore, natural that kinko artists flourished. They had the patronage of the great lords like Doki, a relative of the Muromachi shogunate and Saito Myochin, a prominent cultured man. However, it was only the metalworkers of Kyoto and Nara who adopted new designs and methods, allowing them to mature into the Goto, Shoami and Ko-Nara schools.

On the other hand, the kinko artists of Mino were left behind developing only slightly ahead of the mundane tachi kanagushi and, using similar methods to that of the Edo period which led to the creation of Mino carving.