Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/246



1. Yūjō—the founder of the family, true name Masaoki Shirobei—held the title of "Sado-no-kami" (lord of Sado). A native of Mino, he served in a military capacity under the Ashikaga chieftain, Yoshinori. Born in 1439, he died in 1512, at the age of seventy-three. Yūjō obtained many of his designs from the celebrated painter Kano Masanobu. He is regarded as the founder of the school of sword-decorators, and his works possess great value. He invented the style of chiselling called taka-bori (carving in high relief), and his work is almost supernaturally skilled. It may be compared to the "exquisite view of Gobi's snow-clad peak towering lofty in the sky" (from a Chinese poet), or to the weeping-willow in the Imperial garden as it waves in the soft breeze, or to the lovely lotus in the fairy lake washed by pearls of dew. So elevated is the tone, so delightfully chaste the character, of the carving that one cannot look at it without emotion. The traces of the chisel are at once bold and delicate, and every part of the work stands out vivid and almost divine. Yūjō may truly be called the "Saint of the Art."

2. Sōjō, true name of Takemitsu Shirobei, was the son of Yūjō. He received the art title Hōgen. Born 1486; died 1564. His work resembles that of his father so closely as to be almost indistinguishable. The carvings of the two masters may be compared to the iris and the sweet flag, distinct plants which nevertheless bear a strong likeness to each other in colour, fragrance, and even time of flowering.

3. Jōshin, true name Yoshihisa Shirobei, was the son of Sōjō. Born 1511; died 1562. The marks of the chisel are sharp; the relief very high and the depression deep. It is strong work. In making a menuki of shakudo or gold, he beat it into the desired form, and then added the plating in colours. This method was called uchidashi (repoussé), and the addition of the coloured metals without fracturing the ground was known as uttori. This style obtained much vogue in Jōshin's time, but is less fashionable now. The