Sword fittings such as sword guards, sword mountings, and kozuka (a small knife fitted to the saya) accrued various adornments in the relative peace of the Edo period and rapidly acquired value as art works. At the end of the era these techniques reached their zenith, and luxurious sword fittings displaying highly developed metal carving technology on various kinds of metal such as gold, silver, shakudo and shibuichi were produced. Especially in Kyoto elegant, elaborately carved works in possession of the refinement of high art represented in painterly fashion the traditional beauties of nature.

At the center of the present exhibition is the work of the Goto Ichijo clan and the Otsuki school of Sasayama Tokuoki and Kano Natsuo, as well as the metal-carving art learned under the tutelage of Kano Natsuo. We hope that you enjoy these products of high skill and exquisite sensibility, and the lofty air of dignity that they possess.