Abstract Mei and Kakihan Translation Help

[CrimpSoup86]

Hi,

 

I am currently trying to translate tsuba from my University's museum collection. We have two that have thus far defied translation due to the abstracted nature of the mei. Neither have been attributed to a school/artist.

 

The FlickR Pages are as follows:

Dragon Tsuba 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93588542@N ... hotostream

Dragon Tsuba with Kakihan: http://www.flickr.com/photos/93588542@N ... otostream/

 

While I would appreciate any help in cracking the mystery of who might have made these tsuba, I would also be curious about how to go about translating and determining mei that appear like this. Any point in the right direction to a resource that tackles signatures such as these would be greatly appreciated. (Do the Kinko Meikan/Haynes Name Registry address this style of signature?)

 

Thanks for any help,

Kyle

[kunitaro]

若芝

and

(成)龍軒

栄寿 (印銘）

[raiden]

1st one is Jakushi from the Hizen, a school piece,

2nd is Seiryuken Eijyu a part time student at the tetsugendo school.

both signatutres look to be genuine

[CrimpSoup86]

Thanks both Kunitaro and Mike for your help.

 

Jakushi: Since your post I have been in search of mei examples from the different generations of Jakushi smiths, but have not had much luck. While I have seen a handful of signatures, people don't seem to be attributing specific mei styles to specific generations. Is my trying to narrow down the specific smith a futile endeavor?

 

I also haven't found much consistency in the Jakushi signature style; each one appears different from the next. Is there a resource one might know about that compares the signatures of different Jakushi smiths? Or, should I be paying attention to something different (style, inlay, etc.) in determining generation/age?

 

I have yet to look into the second work (Tetsugendo School Tsuba) regarding signature style/age, but any heads up information on a place to start would surely help.

 

-Kyle

[CrimpSoup86]

Regarding the Tetsugendo School tsuba (tsuba 2), I am curious about the kao.

 

I take it that "印銘" that Kunitaro wrote above is meant to be a transcription of the kao of the Tetsugendo tsuba into standard kanji? My questions are as follows:

 

1. What is the pronunciation of this kao? I looked up the characters　(いんめい) in a dictionary and that pronunciation doesn't seem relevant.

 

2. Does this kao have a specific non-phonetic meaning? (For example, does it mean "tetsugendo"?)

 

3. Does the kao act as a seal for the specific artist, Seiryuken Eiju?

 

Thanks for putting up with the questioning. As my school lacks any Asian art specialists, I hope the members of the forum don't mind if I return for (semi)constant advice!

 

Kyle

[cabowen]

印銘 does not mean "kao".

 

kao is 花押.

 

Most kao do not have a distinct meaning in and of themselves, though some are an abstraction of a kanji with meaning.

[Brian]

Kao is just a personal seal. Might be made up of kanji, but they are not given meanings.

Your maker is Seiryuken Eiju, lots of works pictured if you Google the name spelled like that. Tetsugendo school.

 

Brian