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- Crafts during the Edo period
During the Edo period, artisans exhibited exquisite craftsmanship and ingenuity in their designs and production of textiles, ceramics, lacquerware and various other crafts. In order to become a craftsman, apprentices acquired skills under the direction of a master craftsman for five to ten years before being allowed to do work on their own. Often these skills were passed from father to son, but sometimes an apprentice would seek out a master, the more famous the better. If the apprentice, in turn, eventually became a great master, he might be rewarded with the right to wear a sword or take an honorary second name.
Among the most respected craftsmen of Edo Japan were the blacksmiths, especially those who painstakingly made swords for the samurai. Swords were considered the �soul of the samurai.� The accoutrements accompanying sword production, like the sword guards (tsuba), also reached new levels of decorative innovation.
OPPOSITE
46. Square bottle/
Bouteille carree
Late 17th/early 18th century Imari ware, porcelain with underglaze blue and polychrome enamels
47. Incense box (kobako) in the shape of three clamshells / Borte a encens (kobako) en forme de trois coquilles
de patourde 18th century Gold lacquer
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