HAGIYA KATSUHIRA Signed: Signed Seiryoken Hagiya Katsuhira
Hagiya Katsuhira is one of the luminary craftsmen of the Mito school, and was born in 1804 as Terakado Yasuke to Terakado Yoju in Mito. His older brother Yosaburo was a kodogu maker by the art name of Katsufusa, who taught him in the beginning. He would go on to be adopted by Hagiya Jinbei and take on teaching from the main line Mito master Shinozaki Katsushige, and Oyama Motozane, the first two of which combine for three of the four characters of his name. This line through Katsushige originates with the peerless artisan Tsuchiya Yasuchika, and Katsuhira would be fifth in line from Yasuchika.
Through his life he became a preeminent artist and taught many students, the most famous of which would be the great master Unno Shomin as well as Namegawa Sadakatsu. Both of these students took the katsu (勝) character from Katsuhira though in Shomin’s name we use the alternate (Chinese style) pronunciation sho. Katsuhira as well had two sons of his own, Katsuhiro and Katsuyasu. Katsuhiro went on to marry into and become the head craftsman of the Suzuki family, and Katsuyasu carried on the Hagira lineage
The artist who made this [referenced piece], Hagiya Katsuhira, was an outstanding talent representing the Mito school of goldsmiths at the end of the Shogunate Regime, turning to the Meiji era. His studio set forth Unno Shomin, Suzuki Shoyo, and so on.
NBTHK English Token Bijutsu
In 1844 Katsuhira began working directly for the MITO CLAN (the third branch of the TOKUGAWA GOSANKE, founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu’s son Yorifusa and resident in Hitachi province). He took on the role of Goyo (御用), or official artisan for the Mito Tokugawa daimyo. Along with this position he may have been granted the same right as a samurai to wear a katana and been included amongst the daimyo’s family for official purposes.
Katsuhira signed his work with the go or personal title of Seiroken (生涼軒) and lived to the age of 83 (dying in 1886, though some references state 1876). His work today can be found in the finest museums throughout the world such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Fourteen of his works have passed the high threshold of Juyo Tosogu with the NBTHK. (Photos and article used with permission of Yuhindo .com)