Studio: international art (7.1896)

Japanese Chasing and Chasers

FIG. 8.—GEESE IN RAIN BY HARUMICHI

the whole being excellently modelled. Fig. 17, on
the contrary, is in very low relief; it is a Triton, by
Ganriu, evidently copied from a European print,
for one can see in parts where the artist has
adopted the cross hatching of the engraver, and on
the other side is a crowned shield and a trident.
The ground is very peculiar in its texture, being
apparently cut away by a graver-like tool, and
lowered near the figure so as to throw it into relief.

The Japanese chasers gave much attention to
their grounds, which frequently have an important
bearing on the general effect, some being simply
etched away, and others grained by a tool. Other
18

FIG. 9.—PLUM BRANCH AND MOON BY YUKITOSIII

grounds are covered with very small hammer or
fine punch-marks, and in some the subject is in
very low relief, the ground being eaten away with
acid, a process often adopted in iron guards.
There is a very beautiful style of work used for
kozukas and sword furniture, in which there is
chased open work, flowers or animals, with a plate
of gold or silver at the back.

A large number of iron guards are covered with
a pierced geometric pattern of interlaced circles or
frets, of striking accuracy, but these are rarely, if
ever, signed, and we also find landscapes in the
Chinese style, sharp and clear, in very low relief;
Tomohisa and Tomomichi excelled in these. Most
of the works in iron of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries have come down to us in ex-
cellent preservation, mainly owing to the patina,
varying from a rich brown to black, which often
adds greatly to the effect of the guard. The mode
of producing these patinas is well known, and in
the introduction to the catalogue of the Burlington
Club Exhibition Professor Church has described
one of them. It is surprising that we see them so
rarely applied to ornamental iron work in England.

Although Japanese sword guards and sword fur-
niture supply us with abundant examples as to how
iron can be treated artistically so as to render it
highly ornamental for small objects, we seldom
find it so used, although high prices are given for
specimens of early European chasing in iron, and
even for modern Italian work, nowise superior to
the Japanese. I feel sure that a careful study of
Japanese sword furniture in iron will amply repay