For study: Goto Mitsutaka

[Brian Ayres]

I am very thankful for the discussion.

 

Personally I value all the opinions and a special thanks to Brian for allowing it to continue.

 

Ford,

I highly value your observations. Please continue to help when your can. :D

 

 

My reflection for what it's worth.

 

The chisel cuts of the waves are not as well executed as the mei.

 

Also, the water droplets are much larger than most of the water droplets on the other waves I looked up and that are on this thread. They just look a bit off and give the waves a clunky, heavy feeling that seems off compared to the open space of the piece in general.

 

I would love to hear WHY this is a piece worthy of study? As opposed to it's flaws?

 

The patina looks good, possibly better on the Ura side with the mei. Is that just due to sunlight/oxidizing?

 

As always I thankful that Mike takes the time to share Tosogu with us.

 

Best regards

 

Brian Ayres

 

 

Is it possible this is an earlier work of his that he completed at a later date and signed?

[Henry Wilson]

I have taken the liberty to put the kozuka between two other samples posted at the beginning of the thread. (The middle one is the kozuka that got the thread going). To my eye between the test kozuka and the top plate, there is a clear difference in technique of how the carvings were cut. Compared with the bottom one, the compositions are similar but they have been executed differently.

 

The composition of the waves, the crests and the splashes on the kozuka in question to me are very Japanese Edo period in style. In contrast the boldness of the carved lines and how the engraving is quite tense, stiff and lacks a feeling of flowing, and which make it seem quite unsophisticated, reminds me of early Chinese images. During the Tang Dynasty, landscape painting in China became its own specialized area. They were generally bold pictures with dark outlining that contained the colour (see below)

but they finally evolved into the incredible Chan (Zen) inspired landscapes of the Sung dynasty, which were imported by the Ashikaga Shogunate.

 

In the kozuka, there seems to be a two dimensional effect trying to emulate a three dimensional sense of depth in the carving which in my opinion is found in sansui (山水) landscape paintings. The motif feels like a snap shot or a section of a much larger work which is why the detail and technical sophistication has been made to seem slightly inferior simply because it is not the point of what the artist is suggesting or truly trying to depict in the mind's eye of the viewer.

 

These landscape paintings can be enjoyed as one complete picture, however there is a lot of enjoyment to be gained by looking very closely at them and picking out the detail and the finer points. To me the kozuka carving is not to be solely regarded as itself, but as an intense over-magnified small snippet of a bigger picture. I think that the Goto artist was trying to get back to basics as many artist tended to do when their style becomes over ripe for the times being the 13 master in a long line extending back to the Muromachi. I think he was trying to recreate the times when scholars sat together enjoying, studying, analysis and discussing landscape paintings. Whether he did this successfully is another thing, but I think this is what he was trying to do.

 

The ideal of the landscape painting was:

“Shan shui (landscape) painting is a kind of painting which goes against the common definition of what a painting is. Shan shui painting refutes color, light and shadow and personal brush work. Shan shui painting is not an open window for the viewer's eye, it is an object for the viewer's mind. Shan shui painting is more like a vehicle of philosophy.”

 

To me the kozuka is working on the above notion be it a very micro-version and in doing so hints at shibui (渋い) loosely and vaguely defined as "refined, subdued, understated" and miyabi (雅) which can be understood as a "pursuit for elegance, the pining for the perfect, heart breaking". Also yūgen (幽玄) which is defined loosely as "mysterious" or "deep" “hidden beauty, simplicity” comes to mind too. (These Japanese terms can be interrupted in different other ways too as much as delicious to me is not necessarily delicious to you.)

 

In short, the lack of apparent skill in the kozuka from someone who is so skilled (if not a gimei) is what to me makes it interesting. But when put side by side with the other works in the picture above, I think it doesn't look so bad after all.

[Brian]

Heck of an explanation Henry, thanks for posting that. Great to see when people elaborate on their opinions or statements. Nicely presented. Might still not change my mind on this kozuka, but can see where your opinion is coming from and a lot to think about.

People may disagree with each other, but nothing constructive can come of it unless reasons are presented like Ford did originally, and you did now.

 

 

Brian

[runagmc]

In the first pic of Henry's last post where you see the two kozuka, one on top of the other, I think I actually prefer the overall composition of the piece, and the style of waves, on the Mitsutaka. For me, the only negative is the apparent lack of control of the cuts. They almost look like they were done freehand, and in a hurry... or like the person who did the work had a good artistic vision, but his skills with the chisel were lacking...

[raiden]

Hmmm guess I better post the paper to satisfy any doubt even though it is a textbook mei.I have had this for a bit and was thinking of putting it up for sale. I have quite a bit of wave theme items (I just like them), and if not appreciated here, it will accompany me when I go to Japan next time where it will probably sell.

[John A Stuart]

I think some did and some didn't Mike. Still it enabled discussion and that in itself is worth the price of admission. So, thanks for posting it and the others you post; they teach us all something, if only not to judge a book by its' cover. John

[raiden]

I guess my point is that people should not confuse appreciation and understanding from personal taste. If one is doing a shinsa, this has to be a rule or else the judgement is compromised. I am not a Bizen fan, but I love early Soshu. But I can still appreciate and understand a good Ichimonji or Ko Bizen. I hope there was some good things learned from this post! On to Tampa!

[nagamaki - Franco]

1) At least for myself, Mitsutaka is attempting to give the waves a feeling of unruliness, almost misbehaving, an anima, thru composition, as opposed to Natsuo who is clearly attempting to give the viewer a feeling of energy, the power of nature. In the first the viewer is merely an observer, in the second the viewer's senses are moved.

 

2) It is important when presenting tosogu for the piece to be first shown as close to scale as possible, before moving on to enlargements. And even then, images simply cannot match the reaction one gets from seeing a quality piece in hand.

[Curran]

I refrained from comment, as I didn't have anything of value to add here.

Thanks to Brian for letting the thread go its way, as several people added educational commentary.

[Ford Hallam]

I'm pleased to see the piece does in fact have papers, thereby settling the question of whether Goto Mitsutake did the work or not. That now firmly established we can better asses his ability in this genre.

 

I found another example of kata-kiri work by him on Ginza Choshuya, here. It also has Hozon papers.

 

And I add their images for convenience. It seems to me that this particular technique was perhaps not Goto Mitsutake's forte. That poor crane's neck is horribly clumsy and indelicate. It also demonstrates, to me anyway, that just because an artist is highly rated it doesn't automatically follow that everything they did is brilliant. As has been repeated countless times on this forum, we must judge the work not the mei

 

[Brian]

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...it might be......

a crane.

:lol:

Sorry. Had to add that. Mike, appreciate you sharing with us, and allowing us to critique perhaps even out of our depth. Has been educational, and much more interesting that just ooh-ing and aah-ing.

If we can have this kind of debate, we will be well off towards improving our knowledge. I still feel that we need to guard against the attitude that anything we don't like, that has a big name, must be our fault. Even good smiths sometimes made mistakes or mediocre swords. I maintain my original comments on this one, but happy to acknoledge the maker.

But what has come out of this is the fact that we all need to view good works and keep adding to our knowledge in order to be able to judge past our own tastes.

 

Brian

[Jean]

Fully agreed Ford

[Henry Wilson]

It reminds me of this:

 

I should stop horsing around. :lol:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21501568

[Ford Hallam]

It just occurred to me the one very salient point has been overlooked.

 

Kata-kiri bori was a technique that was developed by Yokoya Somin (1670~1733), who's father greatly stimulated the rise of the Machibori, the 'town carvers' , those studios who were not retained by the Shogunate or Daimyo families. Although Yokoya Soyo ( Somin's dad) trained initially under the Goto he broke away from the Iebori (official Shogunate, 'house' carvers) system and developed a much more expressive and freer form of metal art. One much influenced by the painters of the day. Kata-kiri bori in particular was developed to express the various qualities and appearance of ink painting.

 

The point being it was very much a form of expression that was favoured by the Machibori so I assume that for a headmaster of the Goto to use it would seem somewhat incongruous. Goto Ichijo (1791~1876) made a very successful break from the rigid tradition of the classical Goto and perhaps Goto Mitsutaka (1721~1784) is here attempting a similar bit of the 'avant garde, more than 100 years earlier. This may place the piece under discussion in a slightly different light.

 

And to return to the Machibori, for the benifit of those members new to the field, the great popularity of their work seems to have been due to the more expressive and playful subject matter they worked with and that was of more interest to the increasingly prosperous merchant class. No doubt there were those of the warrior class who had the money and inclination to patronise them but by and large the Machibori tradition catered primarily for a non-samurai clientèle.

 

These are a couple of ink paintings by the artist Hanabusa Itchō (1652 ~1724) who was a friend of Yokoya Somin. His influence on kata-kiri bori can easily be seen. Incidentally these 'paintings' are actually prints made from woodblocks and were sold as collections of designs for craftsmen to use. It's worth bearing this use of artist prepared designs in mind when assessing the apparent creativity of of tosogu-shi. Originality wasn't always particularly important, but the vigour and expressiveness of the workmanship was, and the first aspect of consideration for connoisseurs of the past.

 

[kaigunair]

No doubt there were those of the warrior class who had the money and inclination to patronise them but by and large the Machibori tradition catered primarily for a non-samurai clientèle.

 

Really have been appreciating the commentary and like Curran, didn't say much b/c I didn't have anything to contribute...until now . Great summary of the machibori school Ford. The quote I pulled I felt was very important because I think some nihonto collectors stay away from machibori for the exact reason that "it wasn't really for samurai....unlike iron tsubas".

 

I would submit a similar sentiment could be held of iron tsubas, in light of the origins for the early iron tsubas that seem to have a large appeal for blade collectors. From my current understanding, mounted samurai of the earlier periods would have used tachi's, and examples from that period were often much different from the iron tsubas that are so highly regarded. The origin of the iron tsubas were for the ashigaru (I think there is an earlier term I disremember now), or the lowest foot soldier or page who initially carried a tsuba-less sword. He most likely was equipped by his samurai lord and possibly unable to afford his own gear. So while machibori was supported by non-samurai with the money to afford the fine arts, iron tsubas were also originally for non-samurai who had neither the funds nor the ability to pay for fine art...

(here I am stirring the pot!)

 

Now when the whole zen / tea influence came into picture and iron caught on with the upper classes, that's when the money followed the art and that's a different ball game, at least to me...

[kaigunair]

Ok, I couldn't leave well enough alone...

 

In the example kozuka, we have katakiri bori, initially was developed to emulate the brush strokes of the great sumi ink masters. While it looks seemingly plain and simple by western standards, the origins were to emulate again, fine art. This is in contrast to the stampings and cutouts found on early iron tsubas, which while often resembling simple motifs, may have initially been done to lighten the tsuba when acting as a weight/counterbalance to the blade (Maybe even personalize a otherwise mass produced blade for a lowely ashigaru?). The use of leather, neri tsuba may indicate that on some blade shapes, the tsuba served a differnt purpose than counterbalance (guard for a slipperly handle, ability to more quickly pick up from the ground, etc...).

 

hmmm...I wonder if leather tsuba examples also show sukashi or other designs....

[John A Stuart]

There are so few surviving examples of nerigawa tsuba it is impossible to say there wasn't, however, none of the survivors are. Most of the nerigawa tsuba you see are later reproductions of the Edojidai and for the most part show designs by embossing, no sukashi that I am aware of. They are light. but, there are others ways to affect balance. I am not sure how the Heianjidai swords are in fact balanced. Weight forward or more neutral??? As to the question of iron tsuba and soft metal tsuba, here are my thoughts. With tachi the fittings were made by tachikanagushi and in soft metal or nerigawa (these may be made by a separate craft person) for the 武士階級. As the uchigatana developed, remembering 四民, iron fittings were more appropriate for the rank and file 無足人 who were the heisotsu 兵卒. They were faster to make, cheaper and functional. As time went by their use was adopted by the higher classes as they wore tachi less and accepted the new uchigatana style and the quality became important. It is in fact when this happened that is controversial, with different dates for the appearance koTosho and koKatchushi on the scene. John

[kaigunair]

Thanks John for the info on the nerigawa tsubas. Would be a great book/forum thread in itself. Thanks also for the correction on the terms + the kanji!

[Henry Wilson]

I was going to post this yesterday but decided not to because I felt the thread had gone cold. However, Ford's post on the Machibori and the inclusion of slides, especially the Fudo Myoo under a waterfall has breathed some new life into it.

 

I did some digging myself and found a painting that adds to what I was talking about in an earlier post. This is an image I found on the Net. The colours have been tweaked by me to make the painting clearer.

 

It is described as "Chinda Waterfall after Sesshu" by Kano Tsunenobu (1636-1713) and is ink on silk. It is a copy by Kano of Sesshu, the famous Muromachi period sumie artist and was displayed in the "Sesshu - Master of Ink and Brush" exhibition in the Tokyo National Museum in 2002 which I was lucky enough to attend.

 

What is of interest is the flowing, churning water in the bottom left. This is a close-up camera shot from the catalog of the exhibition which is why the resolution is quite clear.

It is this kind of ink work that is often seen in old classic ink paintings that sprang to mind when I initially saw the kozuka.

 

Putting the kozuka motif between the Kano and the Fudo Myoo waves (and flipping the Fudo Myoo waves), there is clearly, in my opinion, similarities in composition and visual effect. I agree with Ford and say Goto Mitsutaka was maybe going avante garde, trying something new and feel he has managed to express and capture on metal through carving a level of sophistication (or a level seemingly lacking sophistication) that ink painters were striving for.

 

Kaneie was fond of 山水 designs and seems to have been inspired by Song Dynasty ink paintings and some of his work has waves in them too.

The waves on this close-up seem to be similar to the kind we are discussing, especially directly under the court offical looking face on:

 

Here is a link to the tsuba from the Mosle collection:

http://yakiba.com/tsuba_kaneie.htm

 

On another note:

 

In the example kozuka, we have katakiri bori, initially was developed to emulate the brush strokes of the great sumi ink masters. While it looks seemingly plain and simple by western standards, the origins were to emulate again, fine art. This is in contrast to the stampings and cutouts found on early iron tsubas, which while often resembling simple motifs.

 

Just to point out and in case it has been overlooked, it is also interesting that sukashi tsuba themselves also mimic ink paintings. The cut out spaces can be viewed as the white silk / paper and the remaining metal and carving can represent the black ink strokes.

 

In the tsuba, notice the long tailed turtle and the way the bottom left leaf of the bamboo is slightly creased, giving a sense of a light breeze blowing through the bamboo.

[Brian]

Excellent writeup Henry

I think you have the makings of a JSSUS article there

 

Brian

[Henry Wilson]

Thanks Brian. Glad to know my efforts are appreciated.

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Henry

 

I'd also like to add my compliments on your exposition. Nice job

 

I think we're pretty much in agreement with regard to what Mitsutaka was referencing and emulating. Having said that I'm still not convinced his apparent awkwardness with his chisel was deliberate. If we were only looking at this wave design I'd tend to be swayed by your argument but in light of his treatment of that unfortunate crane I have my doubts

 

Something else worth noting in the painting you posted is the use of very differing brush strokes for the different elements in the composition. In fact these various kinds of brush stroke have different names and Edo period artist's manuals even describe rules for the painting of rocks, mountains, moving water and trees, in fact everything one would see in a painting.

 

4 terms from the Japanese artistic tradition may be worth consideration here as they also apply to tosogu. I'm quoting Bowie's book which I refer to below.

 

Ja refers to attempted originality in a painting without the ability to give it character, departing from all laws to produce something not reducible to any law or principle.

Kan is producing only superficial, pleasing effect without any power in the brush stroke - a characterless painting to charm only the ignorant.

Zoku refers to the fault of painting from a mercenary motive only, - thinking of money instead of art.

Rai is the base imitation of or copying or cribbing from others.

 

I mention these technical aspects of Japanese painting because they illustrate the importance of having a reasonable grasp of the values and qualities by which these art works were judging in their own time and cultural context. Being unaware of this sort of background inevitably means one's judgement is 'out of context' and merely an expression subjective taste.

 

For anyone wanting to explore this aspect I'd recommend 'On the Laws of Japanese Painting' by Henry P. Bowie. Bowie went to Japan in 1893 and studied painting for 9 years under one of the leading artists of the day. His book remains the only authentic guide in English to this tradition.

 

Another that may be of interest is 'Paintings and Studies by Kawanabe Kyosai' written by his student Josiah Condor circa 1911.

[Henry Wilson]

Hi Ford

 

Thank you very much for the compliments.

 

When I was comparing the carving of the waves with the paintings, I noticed that the carving is less articulate and not as flowing as the paintings. I hoped that this distortion might be because it is over magnified, so for fun I scaled the kozuka done to approximate size, but the irregularities are still noticeable and once noticed could be a little hard to get over for people who know the mainline master well enough (I confess, I don't know his work at all). That and the chunky neck on the crane leads me to agree with you that the apparent awkwardness with his chisel is not deliberate. Dare I say, overall, on the samples provided, to me it seems he was a little out of his depth in the katakiri area.

 

All in all, I like the kozuka and would be happy to own it, but beyond the motif, does not quite fit in with my interests.

 

Also thank you Ford for the pointers on the appreciation of Japanese art. The Bowie book is something I hope to get to in time to come. At the minute I am looking at the Chinese side of painting and enjoying the books below, but hope to graduate on to Japanese painting sometime soon:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chinese-Painting-James-Cahill/dp/0847800792

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thousand-Chinese-Painting-Culture-Civilization/dp/0300094477

 

It always delights me how the art forms overlap and what can be learned from dipping into them.

[Ford Hallam]

Cheers Henry,

 

yes, the Bowie book really is a fascinating read and not at all too academic. I't's full of really interesting tid bits. I'd go so far as to suggest it might be recommended reading for anyone serious about learning to properly appreciate and asses Japanese art. I was browsing through it again last night and this short section says it all;

 

"Let it be remembered only that no Japanese painting (or any other of Japan's art forms *) can be properly understood, much less appreciated, unless we possess some acquaintance with the laws which control it's production. Without such knowledge, criticism - praising or condemning a Japanese work of art - is without weight or value."

 

All in all an excellent thread, methinks Thanks to Mike for kicking it off.

 

regards all,

 

fh

[Henry Wilson]

All in all an excellent thread, methinks Thanks to Mike for kicking it off.

 

Yes, agreed. And many thanks to Brian for putting up with us!

[Brian]

No problem. I find the more I get into drink and drugs..the easier it gets.

 

 

(Seriously, I don't do either. Which really does make this harder. :D )

 

Brian

[Ford Hallam]

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

[cabowen]

 

... this short section says it all;

 

"Let it be remembered only that no Japanese painting (or any other of Japan's art forms *) can be properly understood, much less appreciated, unless we possess some acquaintance with the laws which control it's production. Without such knowledge, criticism - praising or condemning a Japanese work of art - is without weight or value."

 

 

 

How true....No art or craft was created in a vacuum. The Japanese sword is a nexus of culture, history, art, religion, and technology; as I have said many times, to gain any sort of real understanding of Nihon-to means studying the culture, history, and technology within which it was created and existed. Without which, one is limited to a rather 2 dimensional view.

[Ford Hallam]

I received via email, this morning from a client of mine who's been following this thread, this image of another Mitsutaka. Interesting how this example combines both the waves and some birds. Also, by looking at all 3 examples of his technique we can begin to get a real sense of what his style of chiselling looks like. The image is from an old Dai Token Ichi catalogue.

 

 

He also sent me a link to this example on Ginza Choshuya's site

I add their image as a reference and for convenience.

 

 

The title the tsuba has been given, "Narihira Azuma kudari", refers to the exile of courtier-poet Ariwara no Narihira (825-880) from Kyoto. This is one of the tales in the Ise monogatari (10th century)

[Brian]

I rest my case :lol:

Thanks for the additional info Ford, does help a lot. I guess by now everyone will have their opinions, but I think the other info posted on the period and techniques here was extremely educational. Thanks all who participated.

 

Brian