mantis inlay menuki

[zeshin2]

good evening

 

thought I would post this menuki,

I had it for about 5 years, and i have not come across many menuki ( or other fittings ) with stone inlay in these years

 

I believe one stone is coral other might be jade , petal in the left should be silver

 

size is 4.1 cm

unfortunately it is not a set

 

could this be goto style? and anybode acqainted with similar inlay technicques with tosugu

 

best regards

[Mantis dude]

I can't tell sometimes items like this might be pouch clasps although I still classify them as menuki especially when they are mantis (thanks for posting by the way). I am not familar with Goto using inlays like that- Goto typically uses gold as its primary inlay. There are some schools that do other inlays although I am not sure about the actual stones in this one being used in their pieces. There is the Hirata school, I think there is another school or two names that are escaping me at the moment.

 

A little story: There is a Hirata tsuba that has been up for sale and I thought the asking price was crazy until I was able to see the piece better as well as did some reading on the school, discovering that they used different materials and the actual tsuba I was looking at was done with enamals, very nice. From the picture I thought it was just simple normal inlay techniques, but when I was able to see the inlay (or overlay may be a better descriptor) work better, I understood. Here is a little blurb about the school and some examples.

 

http://tsuba.jyuluck-do.com/HirataSchool.html

http://www.silk-road.us/hirata.html

http://www.scholarsresource.com/browse/ ... 2142569339

 

I don't know enough about the school though to know if your piece fits stylistically as a hirata piece. From my understand Hirata pieces are rare so you don't see them often. I would of course keep it for you if you wanted. Thanks for posting, nice little piece.

[BMarkhasin]

Inlay of semi-precious stones and minerals, coral, glass, ivory, lacquer and wood is not uncommon in Japanese metalwork. I think the most commonly encountered works with such inlay belong to the Hamano school, while enamel inlays are most often associated with Hirata school works. I suspect the full list of schools / artists dabbling in these techniques is lengthier. The practice of inlaying non-metallic (exotic) substances dates back to the late Kofun / Asuka periods, with the techniques imported from Korea and China. Preserved early examples are extremely rare. The vast majority of inlayed tosogu works collectors encounter date to the 18th and 19th century, while Hirata inlays may go back to the late 16th c. The Baur, Joly, Rosin and numerous other collections contain exceptional examples of such inlays.

 

Best,

Boris.