Higo Hayashi Matashichi gem

[cspage]

Again, this is just for everyone's pleasure. Here is what I think is a gem that I recently purchased from Grey. Higo Hayashi Matashichi, according to Skip Holbrook, and from my limited experience in books, it appears so. Small tanto sized tsuba, marvelous patina and a bone on the rim. The book page is from Tsuba Kanshoki, page 176.

 

Colin

[Lorenzo]

Cute little tsuba.

 

Two minor questions;

are you sure you are seeing tekkotsu instead of a intentional part of the design (fish fin)?

are you stating this is surely made by Hayashi Matashichi? That's a bold statement to make.. better "in the style of.."

[ROKUJURO]

.....Here is what I think is a gem that I recently purchased from Grey. Higo Hayashi Matashichi, according to Skip Holbrook, and from my limited experience in books, it appears so......

If my old eyes are still working correctly, the TSUBA shown is not the same as pictured in the KANSHOKI.

 

Nevertheless it is pleasant.

[cspage]

Cute little tsuba.

 

Two minor questions;

are you sure you are seeing tekkotsu instead of a intentional part of the design (fish fin)?

are you stating this is surely made by Hayashi Matashichi? That's a bold statement to make.. better "in the style of.."

 

Lorenzo, definitely tekkotsu. You can see the catfish fin to the right of the tekkotsu.

I am not stating that it is "surely made by Hayashi Matashichi." I simply stated that it "appears so." Far be it for me to claim expertise in this field. Skip Holbrook is the one who labeled the tsuba as such, and coupled with the example in Tsuba Kanshoki, which, by the way, also mentions that this design appears in many tsuba by the Matashichi school, and the written descriptions of the characteristics of this school, the preponderance of evidence points in that direction.

 

Thanks for the questions.

 

Colin

[cspage]

"If my old eyes are still working correctly, the TSUBA shown is not the same as pictured in the KANSHOKI.

 

Nevertheless it is pleasant."

 

 

Jean, definitely not the same tsuba, but the book illustration was included to show similarities and to support the supposition that this is of the Higo Hayashi Matashichi school. The book mentioned many tsuba with this design. The book illustration does not include the dimensions of that tsuba (at least not in English), so, if the illistrated tsuba is katana sized, one can see the modifications of scale required to duplicate the design in a smaller version. I find that also interesting.

 

Colin

[Soshin]

Hi Colin,

 

I like your tsuba better then the tsuba in the book. The expression on the Catfish face is much better in my opinion. In the Japanese text of the book the size is not listed for the tsuba. Your tsuba wound be a nice addition to anyones' collection.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[cspage]

Thanks, David. I really like this tsuba, too (obviously). The catfish is is fishy and the gourd has a beautiful, organic aspect. Quite fetching.

 

I'll take this opportunity to also mention there's one text that states that Matashichi had up to 20 workers in his shop, so whether this is made by the individual master or one of his "workers" is really not important (signatures were apparently rare). The quality of work was obviously of high importance and I expect that whomever of the group made this tsuba, it had to pass muster with the boss.

 

Colin

[DirkO]

For those interested in the theme hyoutan-namazu:

 

By the late Muromachi period, namazu had become firmly associated with unrest and upheaval, though not specifically with earthquakes. Around 1413, the shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshimochi, commissioned the artist Josetsu to produce a now famous painting loosely connected with the Zen Buddhist idea that one's mind cannot be grasped. A group of Zen priests close to the shōgun then added a series of poems to the painting. The result was *Hyōnenzu* 瓢鮎図, which means literally "Illustration of catching a namazu (鮎 in this case, not the usual 鯰) with a gourd."

 

This complex painting features, in the foreground, a *ragged looking man* trying to catch or hold down a catfish with a smooth bottle gourd. The namazu has moved into relatively open water and is about to enter a wide area overgrown with weeds. Catching it or pinning it down with a gourd seems to be impossible, and, indeed, today the image of pinning down a catfish with a gourd is a well-establish metaphor for doing the impossible. At the time the painting was created, however, the range of possible meanings of its rich symbolism was quite wide, and interpreting this painting thoroughly requires a book-length study (and there is one: Shimao Arata 島尾新, Josetsu-hitsu hyōnenzu: hyōtan-namazu no ikonorojii 『如拙筆、瓢鮎図：ひょうたんなまずのイコノロジー』, [Tokyo]). Here is the key point to bear in mind for our purposes: Hyōnenzu is the earliest known example of the image of pinning down a catfish with a gourd or other object.

 

[cspage]

Dirk, I'm overwhelmed with this wonderfully rich enlightenment of the catfish/gourd motif. Thank you so much! You are a scholar and a gentleman.

 

Colin

[DirkO]

I just recently acquired a menuki set with the same theme, so I recognised immediately

[cspage]

Dirk, any chance of you posting some pics here? It would be fun to seen them.

 

Colin

[Lorenzo]

Just a quick note.

 

If you measure the nakago ana / seppa dai you can figure out quite easily by the proportions if it is katana size or not.

The tsuba on the book is clearly different, and quite a delicate work. Yours is, I repeat, a cute little tsuba but it fails when you call it a Hayashi Matashichi gem: That's the only problem for me. My English is not good but I imagine you call it gem referring to the fact you could have find out a little treasure; I don't think it is.

You can't have one of the greatest higo master work this cheap, and if you do than the seller is probably insane.

It could be an Hayashi school work.. but it have yet to be papered so.

 

So, for honesty sake, shall we call this "in the style of.." and not "Higo Hayashi Matashichi gem" ?

[cspage]

OK, Lorenzo, I bow to your strict aherence to protocols of the experts. "In the style of" is fine with me. However, common sense, which I heartily believe in, tells me that the preponderance of evidence points towards the possibility of authenticity. Just my opinion, think of it what you will...but...

 

...a "treasure/gem" is in the eye of the beholder, and having been educated and trained in the visual arts and crafts, I believe my eye is pretty damn good. My enjoyment of this tsuba is strictly a personal, and while I would hope others might likewise enjoy it, I make no pretentions of deciding how others should think about this piece. Sorry if the syntax gave a different impression.

 

"You can't have one of the greatest higo master work this cheap and if you do than the seller is probably insane."

Are you refering to the price it was sold for? If so, I'm sorry you feel that Skip Holbrook and Grey Doffin are probably insane.

 

Colin

[Grey Doffin]

Skip isn't; not sure about Grey.

I don't think Lorenzo was calling anyone insane; just making a point: no knowledgeable, sane seller would sell it at the price I sold it at if he thought it truly was the work of the master. But isn't that so obvious that there is no sense in mentioning it? If submitted to shinsa the tsuba would likely get a paper to Higo something but likely not to Hayashi Matashichi himself. I think everyone involved knows this.

And if Colin wants to call it a gem is that such a sin?

Grey

[Lorenzo]

But isn't that so obvious that there is no sense in mentioning it?

 

Grey, you are the seller and I knew it. There was nothing wrong in your description as you just stated that "skip tag says..".

Nothing wrong at all.

...but, going customer side...

 

Shall the customers watch what they buy closely, with their own eyes, and not blindly report another person comment, using it as they please?

Syntax (or better, how we call things) is obviously important in this field, otherwise we can call this other case close as well.