An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.
The characteristic style of this school was established by Ōtsuki Mitsuoki (1766-1834) of Kiōto. Discarding the classical models of the Kanō school of painting, he adopted the designs of his teacher, the painter Ganku. Some of his best work was in katakiri engraving, but he also practised modelling, incrustation and inlay, and his style was perpetuated by a little group of pupils, among whom Kawaraba-yashi (or Kawa) Hideoki, Sasayama Tokuoki, and Tenkōdō Hidekuni are the most noteworthy.
Natsuo
Connected with the Ōtsuki School to some extent is that consummate artist in metal, Kanō Natsuo (1828-1898), who adopted a style peculiar to himself and was the last of the great masters of sword-furniture. The wonderful colouring and surface-treatment of his metal grounds (shakudō especially) and the sympathetic delicacy of his modelling have never been surpassed. After the Imperial Restoration (1868) Natsuo removed from Kiōto to Yedo (Tōkiō).
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