Hikone Bori Fuchi Kashira
This fuchi‑kashira set is executed in the style of the Soten School of Hikone (also known as Hikone‑bori style), and is made in shakudo. It depicts the dramatic episode of the race across the Uji River, as recounted in the epic Heike Monogatari: two rival Genji generals ride their horses through the turbulent current of the Uji River in an effort to outpace the other and reach the far bank first.
On the kashira one observes the scene of the generals and their mounts plunging into the water. The high relief-chiselling (approximately three millimetres) gives dynamic sculptural depth. The waves stretch almost across the entire surface of the kashira, with the lower edge finished with a narrow gold border. The figures of the generals and their horses are inlaid in gold, silver and copper—rich polychrome work. The cresting waves are overlaid in keshikomi zogan gold, and the spray‑crowns on the wave‑tops are rendered in silver with inlaid silver dots.
On the fuchi, the motif continues. Sweeping waves dominate nearly the whole surface, while about one‑quarter of the area near the edge is reserved as a nanako ground in shakudo, with a few trees at the margins of the wave‑field. The waves are likewise overlaid in keshikomi zogan gold. The upper and lower rims of the fuchi are accentuated with gold borders.
The set is signed on the fuchi with ‘Nagamine’, however if this piece was actually made by the famous Ayanokoji Nagamine from the mid Edo period, is not verified.
Fuchi: 35.5 mm x 21 mm x 10.2 mm
Kashira: 35 mm x 16.2 mm x 10 mm
