Edo Period Corner Part II

[Bugyotsuji]

Malcolm has this one.

 

Next time you are in Himeji with some time to spare before or after the castle, there is a little house in a garden, the Bokei Tei 望景亭　formerly belonging to the Hamamoto family just west of Himeji Jo, on the edge of the grounds of the ultra modern Himeji Bungakukan/Bungakkan.

 

The rooms and corridors inside are lovely. Very peaceful. Views of Himeji Castle from the side. The tearoom has sliding fusuma with these Hikite on either side of the same fusuma. NBTHK used this place for sword Kantei a couple of years ago.

 

http://hsuishin.exblog.jp/12300825/

[Brian]

Very nice. Shape of a crane?

The other one is in the shape of an oar?

 

Brian

[runagmc]

God... you gotta love traditional Japanese architecture and landscaping...

 

Also, are these hikite flat?... and how would they mount?

[cabowen]

they have a recess that mounts through the face of the fusuma (sliding door) and is secured with small tacks through the inner wall of the recess into the fusuma frame. They come in all sorts of designs, shapes, etc. They are one of the few decorative elements in a traditional Japanese room.

[runagmc]

Got it... so the edge of the body would be the part you grab on these that Piers showed. Looks like you can see where the patina is rubbed away from people's fingers.

[cabowen]

There is a concavity in the center of them; that is where you put your fingers to slide the door. The outside edges are flush with the door.

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning all,

 

This is about as good as it gets with Hikite:

 

These are Daimyo quality from Tokyo National Museum last year:

 

Apologies for the quality, I took them through glass at a low angle to show the depth of the pull.

 

You can see the pin holes for fixing that Chris B mentions at 12 o'clock.

 

Here's some links to Edward S Morse's Japanese Homes and their surroundings ( Note the fancy Hikite with two brushes on the banner page).

 

https://archive.org/stream/japanesehome ... 7/mode/2up

 

https://archive.org/stream/japanesehome ... 0/mode/2up

[John A Stuart]

That's the basic shapes you see most often, of course a cut above in design. John

[Bugyotsuji]

In the other, larger, set of tatami rooms they had ceramic ones which I loved, small hikite pulls on the sliding panels in the tokonoma, and larger ones on the sliding fusuma doors.

 

These may have been posted by me on this site somewhere before. If so, apologies in advance.

[kusunokimasahige]

Wow ! Those porcelain ones look great !

 

Pity I do not have the cash and there is a bidding wat going on with a dealer from the looks of it (automatic bid list),

but this tray I do like a lot ! (300US$ when I wrote this first)...

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111359699720?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

 

I just love lacquerware.

 

KM

[b.hennick]

Think how much it would be if it was an inro!

[Bugyotsuji]

That is simply beautiful.

 

I love the wording below, "I am starting from a very low price..."

[Bugyotsuji]

1 1/2 days left, over 60 bids and still at 33,000 JPY as of...

 

Today I bought two spears, one a little Ginnan-Po signed by Osafune Sukesada in Kaei 6 (1853), a yari by him said to be a rare find, but I know little about this smith and my search only now begins. It does not need registration as it is shorter than the legal limit, but it does have some old NBTHK paperwork certifying it and the signature as genuine.

 

The other is a Jumonji yari, in polish, from around 延法 (1673-80) by Moritsugu of Fukuoka, a smith belonging to the Kuroda Han. This one is registered. Been wanting a Jumonji for many years so I feel very lucky with this one.

 

If anyone has any episodes, interesting information about either smith, please post away!!! Thanks.

[Brian]

Piers,

Suggest posting them in the Nihonto section instead of tucked away here

As a fan of Jumonji yari, would love to see pics of yours. In polish...a score.

 

Brian

[Bugyotsuji]

Many thanks, Brian. Good point. Will make a small Sunday project out of this then.

[kusunokimasahige]

For 22.50 US$, a 19th century Shokudai.

 

I like the way it has been made. It is different than the general shokudai you find online.

 

Seems to be a lotus flower or some other flower.

 

Now I need some candles.

[watsonmil]

Dear Henk-Jan,

I rather like that, ... at $ 22.50 you got a bargain too !

... Ron Watson

[kusunokimasahige]

Thank you dear Ron !

 

I seem to be on a lucky streak with Ebay this week. Lost out on an edo period brush container

and inkwell for in the obi and a kiseru pouch, but won a shamisen and this shokudai.

 

I am not certain whether the shokudai I won might be Buddhist in origin because of the flower cup

and the missing ring attachment you often see on other models, for instance on this modern one :

[kusunokimasahige]

Won a second (Edo period) Candle holder on Ebay. Bronze and Iron this time. 10,05 US$.

 

Great !!!!!!

 

 

KM

[watsonmil]

Dear Henk-Jan,

Congratulations AGAIN, ... should you wish to sell, ... I'd even pay the shipping plus PayPal fees ! Thank you for posting.

 

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Agreed. Congratulations. I love these old-style Shokudai candle-holders and Andon lamps.

 

Note of caution for would-be buyers. There are people making these today; certainly I have seen iron ones on the market. The hotel where we stayed in Amako on the Japan Sea coast had a large selection made by local artisans, so I was able to spend some time examining them.

[kusunokimasahige]

Indeed Piers, just like other antique artefacts, these are also copied. And what is not copied these days

 

It takes a discerning eye and training, but yes, even experts at auction houses I worked at in the past were sometimes mistaken about the origins of items ESPECIALLY in the archaeology department.

 

With the two I posted it is not so much the age and originality which mattered to me but the looks (though I consider myself quite lucky having found and won them!). I have seen a few original Edo period andon lamps I really liked on Ebay lately and have collected their photographs to probably replicate them myself one day for re-enactment purposes. Just like these two candle holders, they are meant to be used. Not to only display.

 

 

Collecting photos (if there are enough and also detail photos) of items I like but cannot buy is one way to make an archive of every day objects of that period.

 

Some examples :

[Bugyotsuji]

Each one so fine in execution and so redolent of the time and culture. Love them.

 

Here is something quite different, and there should be enough hints buried here for clever sleuths. Something I had heard about for many years, but just last week finally saw with mine own two eyes. The story that goes with this is great.

[kusunokimasahige]

WOW !! I like !!

 

But I guess it came empty ?

 

 

 

KM

[Bugyotsuji]

H-J, it is in a certain location. It started empty, perhaps, but not now. It's been full for 536 years. :|

[Brian]

Intriguing....

 

Brian

[Stephen]

family member bones they wash each year?

[Bugyotsuji]

'Tis a place of pilgrimage for those in the know. The answer is there in the photograph.

 

(Who wore deer antlers on his kabuto?)

[kusunokimasahige]

Aha !

 

Tadakatsu sama ?

 

So you visited him, his wife and his son in the grounds of the Ryōgen-ji ?

 

Well I hope there still are many who pay their respects and visit him.

 

However I thought their graves looked like this :

 

https://storage.googleapis.com/geolocat ... /076-F.jpg

 

KM

[Bugyotsuji]

Er.... no. :lol:

 

Although I grant his more famous stag antlers. (Don't you sleep at night?)