Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The founding of these important schools, which were later to exert so profound an influence on 18^th-century chiselling, is attributed to two pupils of Umetada Miōju (first half of the 17^th century).

But little is known of one of these, Itō [Japanese text] Jinzayemon, or of his successors, until Itō Masatsune ([Japanese text], the first of the name; d. 1724) moved the school to Yedo on being appointed guard-maker to the Shōgun. This Masatsune is credited with the invention of the extremely fine saw-cutting (in lines sometimes little more than a hundredth part of an inch thick) known as ito-zukashi, literally “thread-piercing” (and quite unconnected with the name Itō). He was followed by his son Jinyemon Masakata [Japanese text], of Kanda, Yedo, who may perhaps be the maker of No. 524 [EAX.10524] (though the Masa – differs); and there succeeded a number of artists mostly signing names beginning Masa – [Japanese text] and accompanied by the phrase Bushū no jū, indicating their residence in Yedo (now Tōkiō), the capital of Musashi province (Bushū [Japanese text]) and the headquarters of the shōgunal government.

The other pupil of Miōju, Itō Masatsugu I [Japanese text] worked at Odawara in Sagami and later at Karatsu in Hizen, being followed by a number of artists (again mostly Masa’s [Japanese text]) residing at Odawara as well as at other centres.

Except by the signature (and not always even then), it is extremely difficult to distinguish the work of these two sub-groups. Generally speaking, however, their productions were limited to guards, smaller Itō mounts being unknown, and these are mainly in iron, either solid with the designs in relief, or pierced with the design almost in the round. There may be a sparing addition of gold, to heighten various details.

N.B. – Unless the contrary is stated, all guards in this group are (1) in modelled openwork within narrow square border, and (2) of 19^th century date.

In the transcribing the signatures the phrases Bushū no jū (“resident of Musashi province”) and Kōfu no jū (“resident of Yedo”) which precede many of the artists’ names are here contracted to BNJ and KNJ respectively.

Various Itsozukashi work

Various pierced work in Itō style