Tsunekichi Kaji

Japanese: 梶常吉 - かじ・つねきち

Year of death: September 20, 1883 (Meiji 16)
Year of birth: Kyowa 3.5 (1803)
A representative cloisonné craftsman from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. The second son of Kaji Ichiemon, a samurai of the Owari (Nagoya) clan. He was adopted into the Tsunekawa family, a village headman in Hattori, Nagoya, and worked in gold and silver plating. After seven years of research using cloisonné that he happened to obtain from the Netherlands (or China, according to one theory), he mastered the technique in 1832, and by the next year he was able to produce cloisonné for export, becoming the father of modern Japanese cloisonné. In 1850, he presented cloisonné to the lord of Owari clan, and then to the Shogun family, and it came to be recognized as a specialty of the Owari clan. The shape and design of his cloisonné were modeled after Chinese cloisonné rather than Dutch cloisonné, and the contrast of colors such as red, yellow, and green on a blue background was clear, creating a solid composition. Tsunekichi's techniques were passed on to Hayashi Shogoro of Shippo-cho, Kaifu-gun, and then to Tsukamoto Kaisuke, and became the foundation of today's Nagoya cloisonné. His grandson, Sataro, is also famous as a cloisonné artist. Yasuyuki Namikawa of Kyoto also inherited the cloisonné style of Tsuneyoshi.

(Yoshiaki Yabe)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治16.9.20(1883)
生年：享和3.5(1803)
幕末明治の代表的七宝職人。尾張(名古屋)藩士加地市右衛門の次男。名古屋服部の庄屋恒川家に養子に入り,金銀鍍金を業とした。たまたまオランダ(一説には中国とも)から入手した七宝をもとに7年間の研究の結果,天保3(1832)年七宝の技法を習得し,8年には輸出品を作るまでになり,日本近代七宝の祖となった。嘉永3(1850)年には尾張藩主,続いて将軍家に七宝を献上し,尾張藩の特産品として認められるに至った。その七宝は,形も文様もオランダよりも中国の七宝を祖型とし,青地に赤・黄・緑などの色の対比が鮮明で,しっかりとした構図を作っている。常吉の技術は,海部郡七宝町の林庄五郎,さらに塚本貝助に伝えられ,今日の名古屋七宝の礎となった。孫の佐太郎も七宝作家として有名。また,京都の並河靖之も常吉系の七宝を受け継いだ。

(矢部良明)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Kajido

>>: Negligent homicide or injury