Katsuhiro was born in 1853 in the Shimoya district of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Katsuhiro was Kagawa's pseudonym, while his first name was Kōjirō (幸次郎). His grandfather was a fishmonger from Omi province who went later to Edo (today Tokyo). Kagawa's mother was a daughter of a sword dealer.
When Katsuhiro was twelve he began to study arts from the famous masters: painting under Shibata Zenshin (柴田是真), wood carving under a Nō masks carver Ariyoshi Yoshinaga (有吉吉長) and the kinko craft from Nomura Katsumori (野村勝守, 1835-1917), who himself was a pupil of Kanō Natsuo (加納夏雄).

A pair of imperial presentation vases by Kagawa Katsuhiro. Credit: Kagedo.

In the 1898, Katsuhiro joined the Tokyo School of Fine Arts and became a direct student of Kanō Natsuo. Together with Unno Shomin he is considered as one of the best Meiji era kinko artists from the school of Natsuo. In 1903 Katsuhiro became a full professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts.
On April 4, 1906, Kagawa Katsuhiro became an Imperial Household Artist (帝室技芸員, Teishitsu Gigei-in), who is an artist who was officially appointed by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan to create works of art for the Tokyo Imperial Palace and other imperial residences. The system came into being during the Meiji period in 1890 and was discontinued after the end of World War II. From 1890 to 1944, only 79 individuals were appointed to the position, including Kagawa Katsuhiro, who also is one of the only two gold carvers in this list (the other one is Unno Shomin).
Kagawa's eldest son pursued another profession and died young at the age of 42. His second son Katsukiyo (香川勝清, 1894-1967) took over the workshop of his father.
Kagawa Katsuhiro died on January 15th, 1917.

Kagawa Katsuhiro [香川勝廣] (1853 ~ 1917)

Exhibitions

Marks

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Examples (from the web)

References