Aki masa Tanaka school ?

[Ian]

Hello all of you Tosogu people

 

What do you think of this little one, is it consistent of Tanaka school, and the Kakihan on the ura?

Thank you in advance

Kind Regards

[Ford Hallam]

Yes, I think it fair to call this Tanaka-Toryusai school.

 

My guess would be that this is the work of a student of one of Kiyotoshi's direct students like Toshiaki or Masakage as they share the same kanji in their mei.

[Ian]

Thank you Ford, I thought it may be Toshiaki , but then I saw this, and it got me thinking.

Masakage works well for me

Many Thanks

[nagamaki - Franco]

Toryusai was my first thought.

[Ludolf Richter]

The fact that there is no such Akimasa in the Japanese and Not-Japanese index-books does not speak against the Tanaka/Toryusai-School.Joly has claimed that there have been more than 30 students in that school,most of them not yet recorded like my Tsuba by a Yuiga Kazumichi.But there are the missing copper inlays and the reference to the Tanaka-School ahead of his Go,e.g.Ryuso.Besides the rim is not as sharp as it should be.Ludolf

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Ludolf,

 

I assume you are referring to the characteristic decorated copper seki-gane that many Tanaka school tsuba feature. While they are a fairly unique characteristic of that school they are by no means always present. If you browse through the MFA's online catalogue of tsuba (47 Tanaka school examples) you see a significant number lacking them or having simply the more typical seki-gane, that was probably fitted later.

 

I'd suggest also that that mei is not all that unusual either. Not all Tanaka work records the School's name. Having said that, this tsuba strikes me a quite late and lacking the force of the more classic examples but never the less I think there are reasonable stylistic similarities to make a case for Tanaka school.

[Ian]

Thank you once again Ford, seem to be some similar charictoristics also in

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/t ... -stag-9953

 

hard to believe everyone passed it by at the London arms fair. :lol:

 

Kind Regards

[nagamaki - Franco]

[raiden]

To All,

This maker may be possibly the person from the Haruaki Hogen School using the same kanji and workmanship style. Haruaki and Toryusai are very similiar in style. Just my 2 cents worth.

Mike

[Ford Hallam]

I'm not sure the Haruaki Hogen School worked in iron much and I'd have to disagree about any similarities in style and workmanship...but that's just my opinion :D

Thinking further there might be some similarities with the later Otsuki school work. That incised rim for example. Although the way the waves are rendered doesn't fit at all that well with Otsuki school work.

[raiden]

Ichihªdª 一方堂

W: Geishu ju, or Geiyo ju, Hiroshima in Aki

D: ca. 1875, piece dated 1887.

NTS: worked in gold and silver inlay. Was a

student of Haruaki Hogen H 00760. AKIMASA 明政

 

from Haynes notes

[raiden]

iron example that i used for the NBTHK machibori benkyou kai in San francisco

[raiden]

Haruaki that I had a year or so ago

[raiden]

usually in the case of Haruaki, most of his students names start with Aki_____

If I find out mmore info on this maker, I will post later.

[Ford Hallam]

Probably worth noting that the gold in the clouds is nunome-zogan and also a feature of Tanaka school work.

[Ford Hallam]

And to further demonstrate how hard it can be to nail stylistic characteristics in the workmanship of tsubako here's an example by Tenkodo Hidekuni of the Otsuki school that also shares some similarities with the Akimasa signed one.

 

[Ian]

Hi Ford

Yes very much so!

 

Great work!

 

Kind Regards

[docliss]

I agree that AKIMASA (H 00041.0) is the only artist listed in Haynes who used these kanji, but the kao listed there is quite unlike that on Ian’s tsuba. ? a different, and unlisted, artist.

 

John L.

[raiden]

The questions remain in my opinion, is either example genuine, if so which one is correct? For example, the Kao in Hawleys may be drawn differently, OR taken from an example not genuine, or the tsuba listed is questionable (but looks ok in my opinion what ever thats worth) or meikanmore unlisted maker.........If I have time, I'll show my teacher in Japan this month.

[Pete Klein]

Mike -- the kao in Haynes is from, 'Shosankenshu', 1919 by Henri Joly and therefore most likely from an example out of a European collection ca. 1900 give or take. There are many gimei examples in those old collections so it is possible you are correct in questioning it.

[docliss]

Just as a post-script, Kinkō Meikan, on p.5d, illustrates a mei, the second kanji of which differs from that on Ian’s tsuba, and does not show a kao.

 

John L.

[raiden]

yes, saw that example, but sometimes they use a Kao and sometime not, as in the case of Fords fav guy Hagiya Kappei. the guy listed in kinko meikan is from Haruaki school.

[Ford Hallam]

Personally I can't see any similarity with Haruaki school work and it seems, to me, to be overly convoluted to try and 'force fit' this artist into that Haruaki school box only on the basis of a partial match in the use of kanji in the name and to overlook the difference in Kao. Sorry Mike, I don't mean to be a knob about but I just don't see a convincing match.

 

There are probably 1000's of , as yet, unrecorded artists who's work will need to be assessed and categorized. To treat our present lists as definitive would be a mistake I feel.

[raiden]

Oh don't get me wrong, I am not saying it IS the guy from that school, all I am trying to show is the different ways I would look at such an item if i were buying it. As far as workmanship goes, I have bought over 30 pieces of the Tanaka school, and many from the Haruaki school as well. I have seen such a range of different types of workmanship from both, and as they are so talented, I believe that one could do the others work style quite well actually. For example the shakudo nanako Juyo piece by Tanaka Seiju in this years dai token ichi catalog, excellent piece. Also as a talented craftsman such as yourself (to Ford) , I am sure that if a top patron asked you to make such a same tsuba as this akimasa with the tanaka style technique, you would take the challenge, no?

[raiden]

Oh, also a few years ago a collector who wanted a signed 3rd Hirata Narihisa tsuba from me got scared and cancelled because the example in the Kinko Meikan didn't have a Kao like mine. Another dealer emphasized this to him, and he then cancelled , even though I guaranteed it in writing. None the less, I really enjoyed e-mailing him the pic of the Tokubetsu hozon a few months later......... :D

[Pete Klein]

From, 'Toso Kodogu Meiji Taikei',vol. III, Wakayama, page 180:

[Ludolf Richter]

Here is another pic from Akimasa (H 00041).Ludolf