Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

This school, if it may be so termed, was founded in the 17th century at Nishijin, Kiōto, by Shōami [Japanese text] Masanori (or Norisada?), a pupil of the Umetada (Group XI). During the 18th and 19th centuries the hoami established themselves in many provincial centres, such as Aidzu (Mutsu province), Shonal (Dewa), Akita (Dewa), Tsuyama (Mimasaka), and especially in Matsuyama and elsewhere in Iyo province. In Yedo (Bush or Musashi province) their work was not so popular as the more elegant and refined productions of other schools. An ordered chronology or genealogy of the Shoami workers has yet to be made, but the last of them, Katsuyoshi, died in 1909.

The style, influenced to some extent by the Goto and other schools, varies largely with the period and surroundings of the different masters, but has an underlying character all its own. Generally the earlier works are in the softer metals, with low-relief incrustation of gold, silver or shakudo; a decorated border is a frequent feature.

Kiōto

Mokkō-shaped tsuba with leaves, butterflies, and dewdrops (EAX.10238)    Tsuba with aoi, or hollyhock leaves, floating on water (EAX.10239)    Round tsuba with clematis spray (EAX.10240)

Lenticular tsuba with wood grain decoration and flowers (EAX.10240.a)    Tsuba with wood grain decoration (EAX.10241)    Round tsuba with wood grain decoration (EAX.10242)

Tsuba with wood grain decoration (EAX.10243)    Mokkō-shaped tsuba with quatrefoil perforations (EAX.10244)    Tsuba in the form of a six-pointed star (EAX.10245)

Lenticular tsuba with chrysanthemum florets (EAX.10246)    Lenticular tsuba with chrysanthemum florets (EAX.10247)    Tsuba with grape vine (EAX.10247.a)

Tsuba with plum tree (EAX.10248)    Tsuba with fan mounts and flowers (EAX.10248.a)

Iyo

Round tsuba with interlacing rings and leaves (EAX.10249)    Tsuba with leaves (EAX.10250)    Tsuba with noshi, or auspicious abalone (EAX.10251)

Tsuba with noshi, or auspicious abalone (EAX.10252)    Tsuba formed as a skein of silk on an open frame (EAX.10253)    Mokkō-shaped tsuba with inome, or heart-shapes (EAX.10254)

Tsuba with dragon and sacred pearl (EAX.10255)    Tsuba with bamboo branch (EAX.10256)    Tsuba with horse and key pattern (EAX.10257)

Awa

Round tsuba with bamboo and clematis (EAX.10258)    Tsuba with heraldic hawk feathers (EAX.10259)    Tsuba with bottle gourd vine (EAX.10260)

Shōnai

Tsuba with chrysanthemums and oval holes (EAX.10261)   

Bushū

Tsuba with design of insect-eaten wood (EAX.10262)

Aidzu

Tsuba with crab and bamboo (EAX.10263)    Tsuba with begonia plant and butterflies (EAX.10264)    Round tsuba with vines and bamboo (EAX.10265)

Tsuba with gourd and bamboo trellis (EAX.10266)    Tsuba with marine molluscs amid mud banks or rocks (EAX.10267)    Tsuba with chessmen (EAX.10268)

Oval tsuba with banana tree and dewdrops (EAX.10269)    Tsuba depicting Shōki the Demon Queller (EAX.10270)

Akita

Tsuba depicting the Chinese poet Li Po (EAX.10271)    Round tsuba with flying phoenixes (EAX.10272)

Unclassified Shōami guards

Round tsuba with peony plant and butterflies (EAX.10273)    Tsuba with takaramono, or precious things (EAX.10274)    Tsuba with gold striations (EAX.10275)

Tsuba with maple and pine leaves (EAX.10276)    Tsuba with Chinese fan and Cissus leaves (EAX.10277)    Tsuba with key pattern and seaweed-like sprays (EAX.10278)

Tsuba with sword and amariō, or rain dragon (EAX.10279)    Round tsuba with double volutes (EAX.10280)    Tsuba with bean plant (EAX.10280.a)

Tsuba with gosan-no-kiri, or paulownia leaves (EAX.10280.b)    Tsuba with bamboo-shaped rim (EAX.10281)    Tsuba with karigane, or flying geese (EAX.10282)

Tsuba with persimmons and bottle-gourd vine (EAX.10283)    Lenticular tsuba with poem (EAX.10284)    Lenticular tsuba with Amida-yasurime, or radial striations (EAX.10285)

Tsuba with raised edge and oblong piercings (EAX.10286)    Tsuba with cruciform border and flowers (EAX.10287)    Tsuba with warabi, or bracken fronds (EAX.10288)

Mokkō-shaped tsuba with flowers and plants (EAX.10289)    Tsuba with two leaves (EAX.10290)    Tsuba with aoi, or hollyhock leaves (EAX.10291)

Lobed tsuba with chrysanthemums and aoi, or hollyhock leaves (EAX.10292)    Tsuba with flowering plum tree (EAX.10293)    Tsuba with gourd vine and fruits (EAX.10294)

Round tsuba with millet plants (EAX.10295)    Tsuba with flowering vine (EAX.10296)    Lobed tsuba with Dolichos sinensis bean (EAX.10297)

Tsuba with trailing stems and seed pods (EAX.10298)    Mokkō-shaped tsuba with trails of clematis (EAX.10299)    Tsuba with rice plants and grasshoppers (EAX.10300)

Tsuba with clematis, susuki grass, and mon crests of the Katagiri family (EAX.10301)    Tsuba with peonies (EAX.10302)    Tsuba with peonies (EAX.10303)

Tsuba with stream and plants (EAX.10304)    Tsuba with fan and riding cane (EAX.10305)    Mokkō-shaped tsuba with wisteria and a swallow (EAX.10306)

Mokkō-shaped tsuba with reeds and a crescent moon (EAX.10306.a)    Tsuba with reeds, willow, and a spider (EAX.10307)    Tsuba with sago palms (EAX.10308)