Tokyo silverware

Silverware appears early in Japan's written timeline, with the Engishiki of 916 carrying an early mention of silver objects. After the Muromachi period, silver mines and new refining methods helped silver-product making expand. In Edo, silver coins were struck at the Ginza office in present-day Ginza, and silver ornamentation spread among townspeople during the Genroku period's growing urban economy. Those conditions helped place Tokyo, especially Taito, at the center of silverware production.

By the middle of the Edo period, shiroganeshi silversmiths made the base forms for engraved vessels, while metalworkers produced combs, hairpins and mikoshi fittings. In 1867, Japanese silver products drew attention at the Paris Exposition. After the Meiji Restoration, thick silver flower vases made in Tokyo were exported in large numbers through Yokohama; after the war, increased movement of foreign residents and visitors in Tokyo expanded demand for spoons, forks, accessories and other silver goods.

Tankin begins by heating the base metal so the silver softens. The maker calculates the dimensions, marks the needed area on the sheet with a compass, and cuts round pieces with shears when a circular form is required. The silver is then set into the hollow of a keyaki wood block and tapped little by little with a wooden mallet until it becomes dish-shaped; hammers and stakes refine the curve. Through repeated heating, annealing and striking, a flat sheet rises into the rounded surface of a vessel, incense burner or similar form.

After shaping, the surface carries another layer of handwork. Chokin uses hammers and chisels to raise or carve motifs. Kiribame cuts out a design and fits in another metal such as copper or shakudo, then relies on silver brazing, filing and polishing to settle the inlay into the surface. Hera-shibori shapes metal by pressing it by hand against a rotating wooden mold, while joining can use silver brazing, tinning, caulking or riveting. Finishes such as nikomi, kinfurubi and tanban-furubi give the silver a quieter color and sheen.

Tokyo ginki is made as objects for handling: tea utensils, sake vessels, vases, tableware, ornaments, accessories and decorative goods. Maker Kasahara Nobuo describes customers bringing pieces back after 20 or 30 years for repair, a detail that keeps the craft at the scale of a hand, a table and a long-used vessel. The repair example belongs to one maker's account, but it shows how silverware can gather signs of use while remaining part of daily rooms and ceremonial settings.