| With his eerie appearance and a plant clenched between his teeth, he is presumed Shennong. Shennong was the ancient Chinese deity of medicine and agriculture. Legend holds he tasted hundreds of plants to identify poisonous herbs and discover medicinal ones. He also imparted knowledge of cultivating the five grains to the people and was long revered as an object of worship. The master craftsman Tokujō [徳乗] was the fifth-generation head of the Gotō school. He was the eldest son of the fourth-generation master, Kōjō [光乗]. Born in 1550 (Tenshō 19), he passed away at the age of 81 in 1631 (Kan'ei 8). This work is an elegant Shennong-themed kozuka featuring an old pine tree and wild gees descending from the sky on either side. The patina of the shakudo nanako pattern ground reveals its age, while the waritsugi-kin on the back conveys its quality. It has passed the Tokubetsu Hozon Tosogu shinsa in 2013. |
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