| A gracefully flying crane is rendered in relief against a meticulously executed shakudō nanako ground. Without the use of inlay or iroe, the design is expressed solely in shakudō, creating an elegant and refined composition known as a Mushaku (plain shakudō) Flying Crane kozuka. The metalworker, Gotō Mitsuyoshi, was the fifteenth master of the main Gotō family. Born in Edo in 1780 as the eldest son of the fourteenth master, Mitsumori, he succeeded to the family headship in 1804 at the age of twenty-four and assumed the name Shirōbei. He died in 1843 at the age of sixty-four and was posthumously given the Buddhist name Shinjō. This kozuka is preserved in excellent condition and displays the dignity and refinement characteristic of the main Gotō family. It is a signed work bearing the kaō of Gotō Mitsuyoshi, the fifteenth master of the main Gotō family. It has passed the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tosogu shinsa in 1998. |
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