| ....But, who says they are masterpieces, Wakayama on his own, or are they generally accepted by all the reasonably knowledgeable connoisseurs of the time? Again, are they all generally accepted masterpieces, or only some, (made accessible by their proud owners) and others just called masterpieces out of politeness and gratitude, because the same owners like them? A very important point indeed! The Toso Kodogu Meihin shu gave Wakayama his first chance to show his "knowledge" in print. Unfortunately Sato was supervising his work. Wakayama had a strong fondness for kinko fittings, as did Sato. Which brings up the areas of knowledge and interest that the past experts were thought to be the masters of: Wakayama of kinko fittings, and Sasano of old iron plate fittings, as was Dr. Torigoye. Kashima is a generalist in the best museum tradition. So, any book of masterpieces by Wakayama will be very strong in most kinko fittings, but weaker in the old iron plate tsuba. Naturally the Wakayama book is but one of many such "masterpiece" tomes. |
