Student of Seiryuken Eiju ?

[JPB]

Good evening everybody

I read somewhere (I don't remember where) that one of the student of Seiryuken Eiju was named Umetada Meiju, who, later directed his own school in Osaka.

I did'nt found anything about this craftsman or his school. Are they real ?

Thanks for your responses !

JPB

[Spartancrest]

Hi Jean P.

Do you mean Umetada Myōju?  There is a brief history of him here :  https://www.giuseppepiva.com/en/news/the-umetada-school-and-the-work-of-myoju/  

As far as I know Umetada Myōju lived 200 years before Seiryuken Eiju. Myōju was born in 1558. 

Seiryūken Eiju (成竜軒栄寿) was the art name of Tetsugendo Toryuken, also known as Naofusa (尚房). He was active in Osaka, Kyoto and later Edo from circa 1775-1800. He was a student of Okamoto Harukuni and adopted son of master craftsman and founder of the Tetsugendo school; Okamoto Naoshige.

Tsuba carrying his name and signature vary considerably in style and quality, and many even exhibit different kao (personal seals). The most likely explanation is that he ran an atelier with several craftsmen, and was only involved in some of the pieces himself.

[JPB]

Hello Dale

Thank you for the answer.  I did'nt mean Myoju. The name I read was Meiju, and he was working in Osaka around 1800 ?. Unfortunately as I wrote it, I can't find where I saw this. Maybe it's a mistake !

thank you again.

JPB

[Spartancrest]

I found this entry mentioning Meiju  From this site :  https://datekatana.jp/en/column/tsuba-artisan-guild-independence-school-formation

 

During this period, "Umetada Meiju" appeared. While possessing the skills of a sword smith, Meiju elevated the creation of tsuba and sword fittings to an art form, introducing "pictorial high relief carving (takabori) and inlay work (zougan)" to tsuba—a revolutionary artisan. The appearance of Meiju became the turning point in establishing tsubashi socially as "metalcraft artists."

 

But I think it merely reflects a misspelling of Myōju.

From Captain F. Brinkley's "Sculpture on Sword-Furniture" [1902] He lists a Meiju, Umetada Okada. 1640 - originally an artist from Kyoto, but moved to Hagi in Choshu and founded the Okada family. I find Brinkley very unreliable.

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 04:09 AM by Spartancrest
More images

[JPB]

Thank you again Dale !

Maybe I found an explanation : Naofusa's successor, Naotomo (Toryuken, Tachibana) seems to be confuzed with an Umetada namesake in old texts.

Looking for this explanation, I found too that some authors believe Toryuken was Naofusa, and some others believe he was an Hamano Norishige too.

Looking for answers make you find new questions, that's why it's fun !

Have a nice day !

JPB

[JohnTo]

Haynes lists a Meiju as a student of Araki Tomei (H09800) working about 1865-75 and that there is a relationship, or the same person as Inoue Akiyoshi (H00089)  The kanji are the same.  I have a tsuba signed Akiyoshi which was an early name used by Kiyotoshi (H03368.0, 1804-1876).  Not sure if its the same guy.

An entry in ‘The Early Famed Works of the Kyoto Smiths (Kyomono no Ko-Meisaku)’, tanslated by Gordon Robson lists a tsuba by Akiyoshi with a shakudo ground.  The text states that ‘Akiyoshi is among the skilled kinko of the Aizu during the late Edo priod’   ‘There must be some connection with Kawano Haruaki, and because of his signature and kao, we can agree to such a conjecture.’  There appears to be a similarity between the kao on this tsuba and examples attributed to Kono Haruaki, so it looks like the artisan of this tsuba is probably the one referred to.  Akiyoshi seems to have worked around the mid 19thC and changed his name several times

Not sure if this helps, or just muddies the picture further.

 

Best regards, John

[JPB]

Thank you JohnTo

It seems to be a different Meiju.

Have a nice day !

JPB