Gorgeous pair of menuki on the theme of the dragon, signed « Inabanosuke »
Edo period
Yoshioka School
These menuki are of remarkable quality. Probably among the most beautiful that I have ever seen on the theme of the dragon.
They are done in a deep, shiny black shakudo, with the eyes inlaid in gold. The scales are very finely chiseled and the texture of the skin and horns is worked. The relief is also generally more important than what can be seen in most other pieces of the same theme.
Size: 4cm
The Yoshioka school was productive during the Edo period and like the Gotō school, it worked exclusively for the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府, Tokugawa bakufu).
All generations of this school have borne the name Inabanosuke, and their rank has always remained the same and has never declined.
The first generations only signed with the Yoshioka family name, and this signature became « Inabanosuke » with or without « Yoshioka » for the following generations.
The works produced by this school were just as qualitative as those made by the masters of the main branch of the famous Gotô school, so they were of the highest quality. Moreover, according to Robert Haynes, many unsigned pieces (mumei) made by the Yoshioka school have been certified as « Gotô », it is for this reason these are quite rare on the market.
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