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Ishiguro Masatsune masterpiece Tsuba With Motif of fish in very fine Nanako ground
second month in the year of the rat of the Bunka era 1816
NTHK Certificate Translation
Edo Ishiguro Masatsune (江⼾ ⽯⿊政常) ‒ Ishiguro Masatsune from Edo
Shōshin (正真) ‒ Authentic
Reiwa 2 nen 7 gatsu 17 nichi (令和⼆年七⽉⼗九⽇) ‒ July 19, 2020
Non-Profit Organization (特定⾮営利活動法⼈)
Nihon Tōken Hozon Kai (⽇本⼑剣保存会) ‒ NTHK
Board Chairman (理事⻑): Miyano Teiji (宮野貞司)
No 10789
meibun (銘⽂) ‒ Signature: Bunka hinoe-ne yōchū ‒ Ishiguro Masatsune
(⽂化丙⼦陽中・⽯⿊政常) ‒ “Ishiguro Masatsune in the
second month in the year of the rat of the Bunka era (1816)”
tsukurikomi (造り込み) ‒ Shape: oval shape, two hitsu-ana
shitaji (下地) ‒ Foundation: shakudō, nanako ground
zugara (図柄) ‒ Motif: fish amidst water plants
hori (彫り) ‒ Carvings: takabori relief, zōgan inlay, iroe accents
sunpō (⼨法) ‒ Measurements: height 7.3 cm, width 6.8 cm
koshirae (拵え) ‒ Mounting:
bikō (備考) ‒ Remarks: Bunka 13 (1816)
shinsaʼin natsuʼin (審査員捺印) ‒ Seals of Judges: 4 seals
Ishiguro Masatsune (石黒政常), 1st Gen.
Masatsune – his first name was „Zenzō“ (善蔵) followed by
„Shūsuke“ (周助) – was the founder of the Edo Ishiguro school. He was
born in the tenth year of Hōreki (1760) and studied initially under Katō
Naotsune . Before that he was also taught
for a certain time by Naotsune´s master Yanagawa Naomasa. When he
became independent he took a character from each of his masters,
namely „tsune“ (常) from „Naotsune“ and „masa“ (政) from
„Naomasa“ and combined them to „Masatsune“. With his extraordinary
skill he was able to give the Ishiguro school a strong position in the
system of the Yokoya lineages. His harmonic balance between motif
and shape of the piece was highly appreciated, as was his perfect
nanako. The strong point of the Ishiguro school were interpretations of
birds combined with floral motifs, the so-called subject of „kachō“
(花鳥), whereas most works were done in shakudō with nanako ground
and a takabori-iroe ornamentation. At the age of 61 he took the gō
„Jumyō“ (寿命). In his early years, when he studied under Naotsune, he
also signed with „Koretsune“ (是常) and other pseudonyms such as
„Tōgakushi“ (東嶽子 or 東岳子) – of which the suffix „-shi“ can also
be omitted – „Sekkokusai“ (石黒斎, which is also read „Ishigurosai“),
„Sekkoku´ō“ (石黒翁), or „Jukokusai“ (寿谷斎). The latter gō and
„Tōgakushi“ were also used by the 2nd gen. Masatsune. Masatsune the
first died in the seventh month of Bunsei eleven (1828) at the age of 69.
The Japanese
Tōsō-Kinkō Schools by Markus Sesko
