The Japanese Collections 15 



many of our famous jewelers. In fact, the sword 

 took the place of jewelry, which was unknown to the 

 samurai. 



Alloys were compounded of indescribable colors; 

 the dark blue of the alloy called shakudo and the vary- 

 ing grays and greens of shibuichi combined to make a 

 palette from which many of the eighteenth and nine- 

 teenth century artists literally painted in metal. There 

 arose schools of metal-workers whose products will 

 ever remain to do them honor,— particularly the Nara, 

 Hamano, Omori, and Ishiguro schools, all of whom are 

 represented by examples in Case 2. The subjects of 

 decoration range through historical incidents and 

 legends to bits of nature, such as the simple, but 

 striking motives chiselled in open work on the iron 

 guards in the center row of Case 1. 



In the Tokugawa period, the serious duties of the 

 samurai were almost banished ; and his hours which 

 had been devoted to war and conquest were given over 

 to the leisurely pastimes of artistic and literary pur- 

 suits. The armor and swords of that day were made 

 for adornment rather than for fighting. The yearly 

 processions of the daimyo to Yedo, whither they were 

 required to come by the shogun's order, were occasions 

 on which the armed retainers, in full regalia, reflected 

 the elegance of their chief's domain. 



In Case 3, the pair of large bows and the quiver 

 with the gilded leather mountings are typical of the 

 luxurious accoutrement of those days. The crest im- 

 pressed in black is that of Nabeshima, the powerful 

 daimyo of Hizen Province. 



In Cases 3 and 4 are.suits of armor, likewise of the 

 Tokugawa period, which represent the fighting equip- 

 ment rather than the armor worn on parade occasions. 

 As there were only occasional border raids to disturb 



[15] 



