Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/336



Reference may finally be made to a kozuka and a kōgai chiselled by Watanabe Hisamitsu, a prominent representative of the popular school. Here the designs correspond exactly with pictures by Kiyonaga or Utamaro. On the copper face of the kozuka, chiselled in relief, is the celebrated "lady of the green hall," Takao. She is magnificently apparelled, and gold, shakudo, silver, and shibuichi are used with the most refined skill to indicate the rich brocades and crêpes that she wears. On the kōgai the same courtesan is shown in gentle dalliance with the ascetic Daruma. The backs of the kozuka and kōgai alike are of shibuichi, carrying the following inscriptions:—

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In this century the Hirata family—spoken of already as the first to employ vitrifiable enamels in the decoration of sword-mounts—had its greatest master in the person of Harunari. One of his pupils,