Higo Koshirae...

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Here is a composite of photographs I did today of a Higo koshirae I purchased from Japan. The tsuka was damaged and the menuki, kozuka, and kogatana were lost at some point. What is there now I think was meant to keep the matching fuchi-gashira together. All other tosogu are present and in good condition. The lacquer work on the saya is ...

All of the fitting with exception of the Iron Higo tsuba have a fine shakudo nanako base with solid gold highlights. The iron Higo tsuba I will post later as its own topic later this holiday weekend. The full length wooden tsunagi will also be its own topic as it has some very interesting things about it.

[Henry Wilson]

Hi David

 

Are you sure that your koshirae would be classed as Higo? Below is a koshirae from my collection that is classic Higo style and is an Edo period reprodcuction of the Kasen koshirae owned by the Hosokawa Sansai:

 

 

The article below is worth checking out. I have quoted a section that defines Higo.

 

http://www.arscives.com/historysteel/ja ... rticle.htm

 

Typical characteristics of Higo-Koshirae 肥後拵 include round Kashira 頭 and Kojiri 鐺; the Same 鮫 that is often black; and the Saya 鞘 in Samenuri 鮫塗, where the "valleys" in the Same 鮫 filled with lacquer, and the "mountains" smoothed and polished flush. Also, the Tsuka 柄 often had a leather wrapping. This type of Koshirae 拵 was later copied as Edo-Higo-Koshirae 江戸肥後拵, but mostly with simpler Saya 鞘 and natural colored Same 鮫.

 

Based on your pictures, I think that your koshirae might be classed as Handachi.

[kaigunair]

Nice set of late edo fittings. Not sure if they are higo fittings themselves, perhaps the tsuba is? I have a similar set on a wak with my mons on the lacquered saya; I do wonder if perhaps they could be post edo fittings, as I've seen many similar fittings on koshirae. Usually seem like they are some sort of semi-formal type tosogu. Compared to those on my wak, yours seem to be of a higher quality, in mint condition and have the hollyhock mon too. Can you get a close up of the nanako work?

[Soshin]

Hi Henry,

 

Thanks for the reply. I was posting this for discussion with the hopes to learn something as I not knowledgeable in koshirae styles. I was just thinking it was a Higo koshirae because the Higo tsuba has a kiri-mon design in ji-sukashi similar to the kojiri. The kiri-mon was during the late Edo Period a pro Emperor symbol used by samurai in Higo and other provinces supporting the overthrow of the Shogun. The handachi style I was assuming was just generally popular during the late Edo Period.

The soft metal kodogu reminds me of Goto school work mostly because of the high quality nanako in a shakudo base and with solid gold highlights. The fact all of these matched fitting of good quality are still together is something I consider remarkable.

[Henry Wilson]

Hi David

 

From your description, it would seem that the tsuba is a mismatch to the koshirae. A picture of it would be helpful thought to be sure.

 

Try searching "handachi koshirae". You will find images of similar kogiri and kashira as well as other kodogu that are very similar to the ones on your koshirae.

[Soshin]

Compared to those on my wak, yours seem to be of a higher quality, in mint condition and have the hollyhock mon too. Can you get a close up of the nanako work?

 

Hi Junichi,

 

Sorry I missed your reply. Here is the high resolution photo of the kojiri. The shakudo is jet black in color and the gold is a strong contrast.

 

Hi Henry,

 

I will take photos tomorrow of the tsuba and post my opinion as to its origins. Now it is time to sleep.

[Henry Wilson]

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in koshirae.

 

http://www.lulu.com/shop/markus-sesko/k ... 66848.html

[Guido]

Those are the most common Handachi fittings one can find - I've seen dozens of them. Google "handachi fittings" and they'll pop up one after another (see below - I think the first two are on websites of NMB members). I owned a set about 20 years ago, and IIRC it was made of cast brass. Definately not Higo.

[Guido]

Henry, that's a very nice and classic/classy Higo Koshirae - if you ever get tired of it you know whom to call ....

[Henry Wilson]

Thank you Guido for the compliment.

I once brought it to the DTI to show you because you mentioned you were looking for one but on that day unfortunately you were nowhere to be found....

[Guido]

I'll be at the DTI again this year .

[Baka Gaijin]

Good afternoon David,

 

Thank you for posting the Koshirae, I particularly like the urushi decoration on the saya, is it Karakusa?

 

Also, I'm not sure if the term Kojiri is right for a Handachi, is it Ishizuki or Sayajiri?

 

If it helps, the Kiri mon depicted is a three five three leaf (san-go-no kiri), not the five seven five leaf (go-shichi-no-kiri 桐花紋 tōkamon) which I believe is currently the symbol used by the Office of the Japanese Prime Minister.

 

Cheers

[Soshin]

Hi Guido,

 

Thanks for the information. The stylistic elements are clear even though the workmanship is like comparing chalk and cheese. It looks like I have a high quality handachi koshirae made of gold and shakudo mismatched maybe on purpose with a iron Higo tsuba with a kiri-mon. Regardless I really like this set of kodogu. It will also makes it easier to find a set of matching menuki and kozuka assuming I can find something at the same level of quality.

 

P.S. Thanks for the information Malcolm for the correct name of the end piece of the saya. The saya is remarkable but I don't know what that effect in the lacquer is called.

 

P.S.S. Henry I was thinking of purchasing that book or PDF but I am so much in the "red" right now with my collection I will need to sell one or two tsuba.

[Guido]

Hi Guido,

Thanks for the information. It looks like I have a high quality handachi koshirae made of gold and shakudo ...

Uhm ... well ...

[Tokaido]

Hello David,

can you please have a close look at the circeled parts of the fitting.

In the right circle it looks like a "flat ground" within the nanako. So the nanako punches do not meet each other, but are separated by a large flat area of double the size of the nanako? At least it looks like this in some parts of the nanako. => please reconsider your judgement about quality.

In the left circle it looks like "gold paint" applied at the rim and giving some "fussy border" between the rim and the nanako. Do you see more evidence that the gold is applied laquer rather than uttori or mercury-helped gilding?

 

Anyway,since this type of handachi fittings are seen frequently, do you (the group) think, that it was something like a part of a uniform (for lower status guardsmen or something)?

 

Greetings

Andreas

[Soshin]

Hello David,

can you please have a close look at the circeled parts of the fitting.

In the right circle it looks like a "flat ground" within the nanako. So the nanako punches do not meet each other, but are separated by a large flat area of double the size of the nanako? At least it looks like this in some parts of the nanako. => please reconsider your judgement about quality.

In the left circle it looks like "gold paint" applied at the rim and giving some "fussy border" between the rim and the nanako. Do you see more evidence that the gold is applied laquer rather than uttori or mercury-helped gilding?

Andreas

 

Hi Andreas,

 

I did a double look at the areas that you highlighted and I stand by my statement. What I see in hand is a little bit of dirt and oxidation. The fussiness is likely my poor focus as the gold borders is much higher than the nanako base on all the fittings. Here is the zoom photo of the nanako from the end piece of the saya. The pattern is very regular and what you were pointing out in my photograph was a artifact of my poor photography.

[cabowen]

From my understanding, nanako are punched IN, while these look like bumps OUT. I would wonder if this wasn't cast....???

[Tokaido]

Hello David,

these pic of the nanako look much better :-)

Another proof how difficult it is to judge fittings based on photos.

 

Greetings

Andreas

[Soshin]

Hi Chris B.,

 

I don't know the answer to your question. I do know soft metal like shakudo and gold are often cast unlike iron used for tosogu. Shortly I will be posting the tsuba for this koshirae as its own topic and my educated opinion as to its origins.

[BMarkhasin]

David,

As others have already pointed out, this strikes me as a very generic handachi-style koshirae, possibly dating to the 20th c. The fittings look like cast brass, and the gold looks like it is has been liberally painted onto the ridges. Nothing remotely Higo about this koshirae. I hope the tsuba is better, although if in this ensemble, I would doubt it.

 

Boris

[Soshin]

Hi Boris M.,

 

I don't see any signs of the use of gold paint or cast copper. Yes the koshirae is not Higo but I think is a nice handachi koshirae made during the late Edo or early Meiji Period. The tsuba is Higo and a mismatch not done in a handachi koshirae style. I have also posted photos of it on another topic in the forum.

[Ford Hallam]

David, et al

 

I do know soft metal like shakudo and gold are often cast

Let me correct this point first, no kinko worker in the Edo period would use casting to produce anything other than a basic ingot. Kinko simply does not admit lost wax casting. This is a point a number of prominent kinko artists emphasised, most notably Unno Shomin and Kano Natsuo. It was, and still ought to be, a point of professional pride that everything was hand wrought, the hard way.

 

The fittings under discussion are, as has been stated by almost everyone already , fairly generic handachi fittings. Not particularly fine quality but not cast either and it is real shakudo from what I can see. The gold is mercury/fire gilding (kin-keshi), not paint (what an odd idea, I wish I could find gold paint that was that convincing ) The messiness of the gold application is due to the amalgam not having been neatly masked out, this points to careless workmanship. I should point out that kin-keshi is fairly common on even very fine handachi fitting and it can provide both a very neat border and a substantial thickness. It shouldn't necessarily be seen as a cheap option.

[Eric H]

As others have already pointed out, this strikes me as a very generic handachi-style koshirae, possibly dating to the 20th c.

similar Handachi fittings

Eric

[Soshin]

The messiness of the gold application is due to the amalgam not having been neatly masked out, this points to careless workmanship.

 

Hi Ford H.,

 

Thank you so much for the reply and the well worded explanation. I would agree but due to the fact that I need magnification to see the messiness where the gold mercury/fire gilded wire meets the shakudo nanako based makes me think the masking wasn't that bad just not perfect and therefore not up to your astronomical level of craftsmanship.

 

What I have here is just a mismatched handachi koshirae of late Edo or early Meiji Period with a Higo tsuba from a later school (i.e. Kamiyoshi or Tsuboi) from around the same time period. This would also explain the differences in the number of buds on the kiri on the tsuba compared with the design at the end of the saya. I am going to keep the tsuba separate and just look for a replacement handachi style tsuba and menuki of the same level of quality using a gold mercury/fire gilding (kin-keshi) with a san-go kirimon design. I will also get the tsuka replaced in a handachi style as well using the fuchi-gashira.

 

I am currently in the process of Goggling Unno Shomin, Kano Natsuo, and the gold application method to learn more. Thanks again for taking the time out of your busy day making tosogu to answer questions and provide additional helpful information.

 

Hi Eric,

 

My koshirae shows many more signs of age then your modern example but thank you for posting it for reference. I will try to look for a similar style tsuba at upcoming shows in the USA and no NMB.

[Justin]

Kiri mon tsuba. Not Higo though.

 

http://www.tokka.biz/fittings/TS541.html

[Soshin]

Hi Justin,

 

Well the koshirae isn't Higo it was just mismatched with a Higo tsuba. Thank you I think we have a match for my koshirae. All I now need is some money. :lol: I will still take a look at the upcoming Baltimore show to see if I can find matching menuki with this same design. Looking for people that can redo the tsuka in a handachi style is something I will need to do when I find and get a matching pair of menuki.

 

P.S. I was able to find this tsuba on the website as well: http://www.tokka.biz/fittings/TS485.html. I think it is also a good match for my koshirae.

[Guido]

I’m resurrecting this thread to show off the Higo Koshirae I bought during my recent trip to Japan. The Tsuba is signed “Yashiro Jû / Sandaime Jingo Saku”. Tokubetsu Hozon for the Koshirae :D.

[paulb]

Congratulations Guido It is a beautiful looking koshirae

[Soshin]

Hi Guido S.,

 

Very nice! Thank you for sharing. You had a very nice trip to see the DTI and NBTHK exhibit this year. Next time I go to Japan I hope it will be in October so that I can attend the DTI. :D

 

I was thinking of updating this topic with news. I found a matching handaichi tsuba and o-seppa at the Baltimore for this koshirae and then quickly sold it off to cover the cost of the show and a new tsuba. I still have the original mismatched tsuba from this koshirae which I will be submitting to NTHK-NPO shinsa next year.

[Peter Bleed]

David and all Others,

Thank you very much for this interesting and highly informative discussion. It has been detailed and expert and dealt with issues that we all can use.

This is the kind of discussion that shows why and how the NMB can work.

Peter