彫鐫画譜 Album of Designs for Metal Carving (<i>Chōsen Gafu</i>)

彫鐫画譜 Album of Designs for Metal Carving (<i>Chōsen Gafu</i>)

嵐山常行画 Ranzan Tsuneyuki

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is the personal sketchbook of sword fittings maker Ranzan Tsuneyuki (嵐山常行). The sketchbook contains monochrome and colored pen and ink sketches as well as drawings of existing works that served the artist as model and as inspiration alike. Such sketchbooks were kept for personal use and not intended to be viewed by the public, although they were given to students for study purposes. In this sketchbook, we find the explicit request that it should be handed down to his then twenty-two-year-old pupil Aizan Yoshiyuki (愛山義行), indicating that Tsuneyuki regarded him as his successor.

Arms and Armor

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

彫鐫画譜 Album of Designs for Metal Carving (<i>Chōsen Gafu</i>)彫鐫画譜 Album of Designs for Metal Carving (<i>Chōsen Gafu</i>)彫鐫画譜 Album of Designs for Metal Carving (<i>Chōsen Gafu</i>)彫鐫画譜 Album of Designs for Metal Carving (<i>Chōsen Gafu</i>)彫鐫画譜 Album of Designs for Metal Carving (<i>Chōsen Gafu</i>)

The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker. Arms and armor have been a vital part of virtually all cultures for thousands of years, pivotal not only in conquest and defense, but also in court pageantry and ceremonial events. Throughout time the best armor and weapons have represented the highest artistic and technical capabilities of the society and period in which they were made, forming a unique aspect of both art history and material culture.