Chokichi Suzuki

Japanese: 鈴木長吉 - すずき・ちょうきち

Year of death: 1919
Year of birth: 1848
A Meiji period metal caster. Born in Ishii Village, Musashi Province (Sakata City, Saitama Prefecture). His real name was Yoshiyuki. He studied wax casting under Okano Toryusai, and in 1874 he became the supervisor of the casting department at the Kiritsu Kogyo Kaisha (Kiyotei Company), and in 1896 he became an Imperial Household Artist. He exhibited his work at expositions both in Japan and abroad, and his "Eagle," exhibited at the Nuremberg International Metalwork Exposition in 1885, is a good example of the tradition of wax casting from the Edo period, demonstrating to the world the high level of Japanese casting technology and invigorating the domestic world of metal casting crafts. His representative works include the "Silver Hyakuju Vase" (Imperial Household Agency Collection), "Water Basin with Wave Pattern" (Tokyo University of the Arts Collection), and "Eagle Ornament" (Tokyo National Museum Collection), but his true value is particularly evident in his intricate and lifelike animal castings.

(Kashima Masaru)

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

Japanese:

没年：大正8(1919)
生年：嘉永1(1848)
明治時代の鋳金家。武蔵国石井村(埼玉県坂戸市)生まれ。本名は嘉幸。岡野東竜斎に師事し,蝋型鋳造を学び,明治7(1874)年起立工商会社の鋳造部の監督となり,29年帝室技芸員となった。内外の博覧会に出品し,明治18年にニュールンベルク万国金工博覧会に出品した「鷲」は,江戸時代の蝋型鋳物の伝統をよく伝えたもので,日本の鋳造技術の水準の高さを世界に示すとともに,国内の鋳金工芸界を活気づけることとなった。代表作に「銀製百寿花瓶」(宮内庁蔵),「波濤文水盤」(東京芸大蔵),「鷲置物」(東京国立博物館蔵)などがあるが,なかでも精緻で迫真的な動物鋳造に彼の真価が発揮されている。

(加島勝)

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

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