Ford Hallam

I think Reinhard's post says it all. Ishiguro Masayoshi is a very BIG name. So the first question you have to ask is; does the work appear exceptional? In the case of the tsuba you are enquiring about I think we can easily see that while it is a perfectly acceptable example of mid Edo period kinko work there is nothing that really takes your breath away. Another example; By ironbrush at 2008-02-05 Both these examples are very different in treatment to your piece so here's another Ishiguro school work, this one is by Iwama Masayoshi and dated 1833. The subject matter and style is now closer to yours but the artistry is of a different order, I think we can agree. By ironbrush at 2008-02-05 I borrowed these images from the Boston Museum of Fine Art on-line collection. It's a fantastic resource, check it out. Franco has helpfully posted a link on the second post. Cheers Franco. Just bear in mind though, that just because they are in the BMFA does not mean they are all genuine mei. In fact, I would judge a couple of the examples in question to be less than certain. regards, Ford

hmm, I think this is a reshaped tanto with a "cosmetically" applied hamon. The second photo appears to show the remains of a mune just before the nakago/rusted area begins. This along with the fact that the side with what I see as the left over mune is less curved adds to my opinion that this is not it's original shape. Funny enough the hamon follows the shape perfectly, if it is actually a hamon(?). Any better images of the edge available? In this area too the hamon seems to be bordered quite sharply by an adjacent area of burnished metal. I don't believe therefore that what looks like a hamon is in fact all that hard. I don't believe it would be possible to produce such a perfectly defined and abrupt step from a hardened edge to an area that could be burnished like this. The idea that the first section of the nakago may have been an integral "habaki" doen't have anything to support it and then one would have to wonder what the effect of constantly sticking a rusty bit of metal into the mouth of your saya would be. I shudder to think! The mounts also appear to me to be rather new. Just my opinions though. Regards to all, Ford

actually Andreas, in the Edo period, with the rise of the merchant class and the increase in their wealth, (sometimes even being money lenders to the samurai class themselves), it was not uncommon for these non-samurai to own and wear short swords. This was obviously an exception to the ban on commoners owning long swords. Many of these very wealthy merchants seem to have been quite proud of their status they seem to have felt no particular affection for the usual samurai aesthetic and so we have the flowering of the machi-bori artists as they begun to work in less "millitary" style. The machibori ( town carvers, lit) can be seen as responding very strongly to this new fashion and produced many works to satisfy the taste of their new customers. Perhaps this is why so many of the more "common" designs on fuchi and kashira are on wakizashi size fittings?

Hi Andreas, yes, it seems your menuki did start an interesting discussion. The point I was making though had more to do with the subject matter shown. As Nobody San's links tell us, this pair were regarded as the patron gods of small shop-keepers. I don't think any self respecting member of the samurai class would display such obviously merchant taste and concern for money. Pete's post in fact points to the desire of the samurai class to mantain social distinctions. These menuki can be seen as very obvious merchant badges so I have my doubts about them being used by a member of the warrior class, regardless of the circumstances. I share Milt's unromantic view of the warrior class ( of all cultures!) but never-the-less I believe certain design elements would be practically taboo. Such an obvious merchant design is a perfect example. Whatever a persons real desires and concerns are we often keep them well hidden and display a socially acceptable face to the world. This was nowhere more true than in Edo period Japan. Also, when I used the word "austere" I meant more in terms of the philosophy behind the choices samurai might make. Certainly not all samurai avoided more elaborate and showy kodogu but still, the subject matter would be carefully considered in terms of what it might say about the owner. regards, Ford

The chappie struggling with the fish ( a tai, or bream) is known as Ebisu and the fellla with the large mallet is known as Daikoku. They are 2 of the 7 "gods" of good fortune. These 2 are more specifically concerned with material wealth and prosperity so I would suggest a more "common" taste as opposed to austere Samurai aesthetics.

It seems to me that this is yet another example of marketing hype . The idea that a subtle effect seen on a polished sword blade could be discerned on an essentially rust based patina is streching it a bit. What next, utsuri in shakudo? :lol: The notion of steel tsuba being hardened needs to be more critically looked at too. I'm sure, as Brian has said, we've all heard the "ring like a bell when tapped" story. However, almost any reasonably stiff metal can be hammered to a point where it will resonate and thus produce a tone when struck. This why bells are not made of hardened steel. So the sound a tsuba makes is no indication of it's actual hardness. Analyis of a number of 18th and 19th cent steel tsuba revealed them to be iron and to contain almost no carbon. These could not be hardened at all. The whole idea of hardening tsuba bothers me on other grounds though. We harden tools to created a surface or edge that is more resistant to wear. Tsuba generally don't have to survive a lot of rubbing. They may need to be tough though but the tempering of steel to create such toughness would remove that hardness which we are led to believe produces a bell like ring. Here we are also faced with the examples of many early iron guards. They are often either very thin of have lots material removed by piercing. I get the strong impression that neither strength nor toughness was a real concern of tsuba makers. If you consider classic Owari guards, which exhibit a great degree of piercing to the point that they appear to be quite delicate I'd suggest that having them hardened would make them far more likely to break if struck with any force. Much better to retain the tougher, unhardened state that resulted from the initial forging of the plate. Guards of Yamakichibei may be an exception but I'd like to see some scientific evidence. Stories of Yagyu guards being pounded in a mortar to test them also fail to stand up to scrutiny. Anyway, these are just the rambling thoughts of a "trumped up blacksmith" :D and will unlikely shake "the beliefs of the faithful" regards to all, Ford

Hi Martin, brilliant! :D you couldn't have created a better visual explanation. I may "borrow" it myself . cheers, Ford p.s. that f/k set looks like Hastings school (?)

Hi Martin, your tsuba cleaned up nicely . Good job! For what it's worth, I would add my opinion to the description to it being of shinchu. A fairly typical alloy used in Higo. This is not the same as modern brass btw; shinchu is around about 15% zinc and a small ( .5% ) amount of lead while modern commercial brass has around 30% zinc and does not patinate well in conjunction with other traditional alloys. The texture on the reverse is called "chidori-ishime" after the tiny footprints of those little birds in the wet sand on the seashore. It is produced by the use of a "Y" shaped punch. You may still be able to make out the odd "Y" shope in the texture that hasn't been altered by further punch work. I think your placing it the Higo area and specifically the Nishigaki group is more than reasonable. I don't believe that this piece can be attributed to any particular individual or master however. If you look more closely at the example you mentioned you may be able to see a more fluent, and in fact fluid, working of the design. There are also more distinct aspects, such as the way that the waves seem to strech and then turn over at the last moment. On your example the curve of the waves is fairly even. The "fingers" at the edges of the waves as they break on Kanshiro's tsuba are quite plump and contained, while on your example they are a little more open and extended. On the back some of them look a bit awkward too, which makes me wonder if the makers apprentice may have helped here. There are 3 examples by the third master in Mr Ito's book also ( pp.244, 245 & 246 ). If you look critically at these you'll see further slight differences from the second masters work. My feeling is that while this tsuba of yours is a perfectly accomplished piece of craftsmanship it lacks the sense of personal interpretation and expression that is so often the mark of a master. The very formalised, "safe" drawing of the design and the lack of inspiration in the carving, particularly in rendering of the crests of the waves, makes me think this is late Edo period work. It is still a fine enough tsuba though and I do hope my comments are not too disappointing. regards, Ford

Hello Ian, I may be one of the few who does in fact have unpatinated shakudo knocking around my studio. In my experience of the material I have found that, generally speaking, shakudo made from relatively well refined copper and gold ( regardless of % ) tends not to colour naturally, certainly not to any sort of black colour, though a tarnish of sorts will eventually develop. The earlier shakudo pieces, say pre; 1600, that show extensive wear and yet have perfectly intact patinae are generally made with unrefined copper ( ie; so called yamagane) and I suspect that the presence of arsenic is responsible in great part for the recolouring, in conjunction with sweaty hands, that is . A contemporary alloy used in Japan, kuromido, which contains 3% As exhibits a marked tendancy to darken quite convincingly simply from handling also. I would say at this point though that I would not advocate the "sweaty hand" solution ( urgh! bad pun! ) for restoring patinae on soft metal fittings. What has happed naturally, and adventageously, on older pieces is as a result of a very gentle process over a long time. I suspect the results of a speedier effort would not be so pleasing. Shibuichi and copper can be coloured very specific tones which natural tarnishing simply does not approach. The development of the alloy palette and the associated, very controlled, colouring processes during the Edo period leads me to believe that the effects of time and handling on these items was not a major consideration of their makers. That metals do further tarnish over time, some much more than others, was understood and in some cases valued but I don't believe that this was factored into the initial patination processes. As to the role of gold in the alloy in affecting a black colour, the most recent research seems to suggest that it may have to do with light absorbtion. The copper oxide formed on shakudo is cuprite ( Cu2O) and is essentially the same as formed on pure copper.( There occurs also a black copper oxide; cupric oxide ( CuO) but this is very fragile and is not what we see on shakudo.) One would therefore expect the colour to be reddish just as on copper. It seems though, that the finely dispersed gold particles in the shakudo alloy absorb the red part of the visible light spectrum and as the rest of the light has been effectively absorbed by the red copper oxide we "see" no colour; and the surface is percieved as black. The person you are referring to who worked at the Imperial mint in the Meiji period was Professor William Gowland. He wrote a very detailed series of research papers on Japanese alloys and metalwork technologies. The gentleman who developed the black alloy for use in making medals was a colleague of his at the mint, a Mr Y Koga. I hope this sheds a little light on the subject, sorry for the ramble regards, Ford

I reckon that's "atari" for Reinhard . Nice to see the comparison between the work of a master and that of a modern hobbyist. I think it allows us to appreciate all the more the achievements of the past. btw, Reinhard, Mitsuoki Otsuki is generally regarded as the 4th hereditary master of the school. There is still some uncertainty as to the identity of the founder but Mitsushige ( Otsuki-Korin) was signing pieces in the first quarter of the 18th cent. He died in 1742. Robinson cites him as the founder but there may have been lesser know artists working in Owari province who preceeded even him. Many of the later artists worked in Kyoto Mitsuoki Otsuki is without a doubt the pre-emminent genius of the school though. He abandoned the reliance of the Kano school of painting, which had been the inspiration for the school previously, and took his own inspiration from the work of the painter Ganku. Ganku worked in a very new and vigourous style which seemed to suit Mitsuoki's temperament. In fact it appears the two were good friends. It is known that Mitsuoki was very fond of sake so I like to imagine these two artistic greats enjoying a few tokkuri together while discussing their art. Oh, To have been a fly on the wall.....

Cheers Rich, yes, it's a reasonably well illustrated piece even though it's not typical of his work at all.

hello Thierry, I think your suggestion that this is a modern piece is spot on. As Rich has shown, one does occasionally come accross tsuba which are made up of plates riveted together, they do tend to be somewhat earlier pieces though. Tachi tsuba ( not the shitogi type ) are frequently assemblies of loose plates but occasionally they are also riveted together. As for the design, I'd suggest that this is a re-working of an original by Goto Ichijo, circa 1835. I've attached an image to compare. It's a single plate of shibuichi, pierced and carved. regards, Ford

I can't offer any definite answer either but It may merely be a matter of the maker expressing a certain degree of humility. Personally, I signed most of my earlier ( learning ) tsuba on the ura as I felt uncomfortable in putting my name "out front". There are also many very fine pieces in existance that have no inscription and yet are generally regarded to be the work of various masters. The reason generally given is that these items were made as direct commissions from Daimyo ( or other high ranking persons) and that for the artist to put his name on it would be considered a bit presumptious. but in general I think the notion of the humble, self effacing craftsman/ artist is a romantic illusion. Japanese artist ( or groups of artists ) are also fond of adopting specific traits that help to destinguish them from the rest of the competition too. Hizen blades for instance are generally signed tachi-mei,

This tsuba looks to be a copy of a fairly well known Ko-Shoami piece. The original is in copper and, as you would expect, has a hint of Umetada influence. hope this helps, regards, Ford

I think this tsuba reveals the influence of 2 of the 3 "Nara-sansaku". Namely Nara Toshinaga and Sugiura-Joi. The three masters ( Tsuchiya Yasuchika being the other one ),collectively known as "Nara-sansaku", worked around the middle of the 18th century in Edo ( Tokyo). I would suggest that this tsuba is a relatively late piece, perhaps mid 19th cent and would loosely classify it as "Nara". Now that I look at it again I get a hint of some of Yasuchika's work too, so this seems to me to very much a product of the Nara groups influence just my yens worth regards, Ford

Hello Thierry, that is quite an unusual guard. Non metallic inlays are not unknown on tsuba but this is the most I've ever seen on a single guard. I'd suggest that the 4 different materials are; water buffalo horn( dark grey), ivory( cream colour), mother of pearl ( white-ish)and cow horn (beige). I think the design represents chidori, ( little birds which are often shown cavorting above breaking waves) regards, Ford

Hi Curran, thanks for the response. You learn something new everyday . Were you given any tell-tale clues to look for and do you know what the paint actually is? urushi perhaps? I'd be facinated to see any images of this technique if anyone has any. thanks again and regards, Ford btw, working shakudo is no different to working copper, and if you'd like a signed version of this tsuba pm me , and it'll definately cost less than $75K

yes, I don't think there's any doubt, that's true inlay. Great close-up shots too btw. Pretty impressive nanako. Curran, I'm intrigued as to why you would think it might have been painted on, . I've never seen anything like that painted before, have you? I reckon painting those lines would be more difficult than inlaying them, and that's apart from the durability factor. regards, Ford

The process, as so accurately described by Ian, is known as Hido (fire copper) in Japanese., or Hi-iro-do( fire colour copper) There is a slightly more complicated process, called miso-yaki, which produces a similar result. In both instances the red copper oxides are further complimented by patinating the areas which have not turned red by the more usual processes. regards, Ford

absolutely!, particularly the way we all get the hump with one another so easily! :lol: regards to all, Ford

Hello Brian, I'd suggest that your friends hunch about the mei is spot on. I go further and say that whoever wrote out the kanji wasn't Japanese either. The spacing and general arrangement of the strokes reveals a lack of familiarity with written kanji. The punch work in actually making the marks is getting there but still shows a lack of control and fluency with the tool. I think forums like these where we discuss the authenticity of these things can also be a training ground for those who want to deceive. Thankfully though, quality work will never be so easily faked. regards, Ford

only if you're a knight of Nin :D

Sorry Ludolf, I ought to learn to read more carefully, particularly when dealing with wolves , peoples or otherwise. regards, Ford ( Hallam~ from the 12th cent Arabic d'Allam, and thence to France and finally England)

probably engraved after the copper was applied, but both ways are possible.

Bob, Rudolf, academic discussions of the "precise" meanings of terms like ato-mei aside, I merely used the term in it's literal ( and broadest ) sense. My intention was to suggest that the mei was not cut when the tsuba was first made but rather added later, ie; ato de, in Japanese. The fact that there is a Kao present does nothing to alter this suggestion. If a collector had commissioned an artisan to make the "atomei" they would have simply done what was asked. I would also suggest that a fair few tsuba bearing incongruous mei may in fact also be ato-mei, whether innocent wishful thinking or deliberate deceit remains a moot point. So much for lack of proof though. . Doesn't it seem a little odd to think that while we will happily accept that mu-mei blades were occasionally inscribed with "hopeful" signatures the possibility that the same thing occurred with tosogu is denied? How exactly would one expect to be able to detect, in a book, when exactly an incorrect mei was made? And Rudolf, if this was added after the tsuba was made why do you believe it impossible that the artisan "broke the rules" and added a Kao? Even Japanese people have been known to break rules. cheers, Ford