Fun Set of Menuki...

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Just wanted to share this fun set of menuki I picked up as part of a cash/trade deal on a tsuba at the Philly show a few weeks ago. Not sure the school don't really care for that matter as quality is universal. The body is polished shakudo of a purplish-black color and the eyes are inlay nicely with a deep colored gold. Each menuki is a little bit over 5.0 cm in length so they must be Bullfrog tadpoles. They come in a fully customized kiri wood box. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

[Ford Hallam]

I love these :D more pics please, David.

[giuseppepiva]

Lovely!

Thank you for sharing.

[Brian]

My taste too. And what a beautiful colour to the shakudo. Nice ones David. Also love to see more pics, and the backs.

 

Brian

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Here is a photo I did with my iPhone. I will setup with my DSL camera and tripod and do more photos of the back side and other angles over the weekend.

[Kevin Adams]

Love 'em. After doing Ford's uchidashi class last week I'm considering doing something along these lines...

 

May we see the underside?

[laowho]

I remember these...2d table or 3d on the right as you entered the ballroom...they just jumped off the table and even my wife immediately noticed them. We enjoyed them for maybe a full 5 minutes. Congratulations.

[Eric Santucci]

David,

 

These are a great set of menuki - I know exactly who you got them from. I was thoroughly looking over the pictures when they were posted for sale several months ago. Glad they went to a good home.

 

Reminds me of my unagi menuki. You may remember these from our table at the Baltimore show last year. They just papered in Japan several months ago and are with Mike and Cyrus now (on consignment).

 

Attached a pic for everyone's viewing pleasure.

 

Congrats again on a great set!

[Stephen]

Eric

 

are they posted on their website?

[Soshin]

Hi Eric S.,

 

I can see some similaries in how the design was done as well as the materials used. The back also look similar in my opinion. I was going to try Mike and Cyrus NBTHK submission service next year likely in Feburary when we are all attending the Tampa show. I also need to submit something nice to the NTHK shinsa at the Chicago show.

[Eric Santucci]

Hi Stephen,

 

Yes, they are listed on their site now. Use the top level nav on their site to access Menu > Fittings > Menuki. They have a nice write up on them as well as details about possible attributions. The unagi design is rare in general and these are in particular a very well made set with extremely fine detail and highest quality shakudo.

 

Hi David,

 

I had Cyrus submit for papers since I bought these menuki through them originally. Process was easy and I recommend them.

[Pete Klein]

Eric -- What did they paper to? The description does not say.

[Soshin]

Hi Eric,

 

I was going to ask that very question but Pete beat me to it.

[Stephen]

David so are you going to show us your backside....wait... the tadpoles back?

[Pete Klein]

Well, Stephen -- for once I've been left speechless...

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

After dinner I was able to take some photos of menuki backside. The posts have a triangle shape to them that I haven't seen before. Also the tails of the tadpole are solid shakudo. I will post more photos tomorrow that I made of the menuki at different angles. Enjoy.

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Here are some photos of menuki using the maco mode on my camera. Enjoy.

 

[Surfson]

I haven't seen many pollywog kodogu, but I do have a sword that has some. Here are some pics. Sorry they are not great. Also, the kozuka has a nice school of them, but I don't have any closeup shots of it. B

[Surfson]

Sorry, somehow when I chose them, the order in the folder shifted around. Here are two more.

[Soshin]

Hi Robert S.,

 

Thanks for sharing photos of your koshirae. Do you know if your koshirae is original or was it put together later for your sword? Based upon the theme of the other fittings my menuki would look better then your frog menuki in my opinion.

[Stephen]

[Kevin Adams]

I feel a shinsaku tadpole koshirae coming on...

 

Thank you for the additional views of the menuki and those koshirae photos, guys! The F/K is quite charming and reminds me of trying to catch those groups of tadpoles as a kid.

[Surfson]

hi David. I have a receipt from the 1930s from Shibata for it, and suspect that it has been together since mid edo jidai. The blade is a koto Ujisada, and is suriage, so I doubt these are the first mounts that it wore, but I also doubt that these mounts have ever been on another sword.

[Soshin]

Hi Robert S.,

 

Thanks for the additional information. I would venter to say your fitting were made as a whole set by the same artist for your sword and not assembled later. My menuki remind me of some oversized menuki of the late Edo Period I have seen. What attracted me so much to these menuki were the artistic rendering of the tadpoles in natural motion on three sides, use of high quality shakudo, and the fine gold inlays on the raised eyes of the tadpoles.

[Ford Hallam]

Just a comment I feel worth making regarding Edo period aesthetics....

 

In line with the aesthetic philosophy espoused by the cult of Cha-no-yu sets of matching anything would have been eschewed. A koshirae that displayed only tadpoles would have been regarded as terribly dull, possibly reflective of an uncultured and unimaginative mind and lacking a refined sense of taste. Having every piece decorated with the same subject hardly requires any thought at all, the Edo period equivalent of matching Louis Vuitton luggage

 

The use of frogs for menuki is not unexpected but they are so well rendered as to provide a delightful contrast to the plump tadpoles. And these tadpoles not only have their eyes inlaid in gold but the pupils then further picked out in shakudo! The tsuba adds further distinction being of iron rather than shakudo and echoing the tadpole forms but not actually being tadpoles (I think). This sophisticated pairing provides relief from any sense of monotony.

In Haiku tadpoles are a seasonal reference (kigo) to late spring while frogs themselves are associated with all of spring. Of course, the frogs may also be a pun. The word for frog, kaeru, is also a homonym for 'to return', so may be a lucky charm of sorts expressing a desire to return home safely after a long joirney. I'm rarely coventous but Robert's koshirae is, in my estimation, quite special and quite perfect as it is.

 

Having said that I'd also happily relive you, David, of your tadpoles whould you tire of them at some point. They have a very different feeling about them but are no less charming to my eyes. One point about the tails though; menuki are formed from a flat sheet of metal and what appears to be a solid section forming the tails is in fact merely the result of the sheet being pushed up to create the volume for that part of the form. If you look carefully you can see the seam where the two sides are squashed together.

 

kind regards to all,

 

Ford

[Surfson]

Ford, I have to say that your evaluation of the piece is very educational; I have read it twice and have included a screen shot of it with my file on the sword. The ability to integrate the cultural references, artistic elements and technical refinements is a rare skill, and, at the risk of sounding like a rabid fan, I think that these abilities shine through in your work, which is truly remarkable. I hope one day to own one of your works of art. Cheers, Bob

[laowho]

I've never seen a saya two-toned and paneled like this, and am glad for it as the seam in our saya build is presenting some difficulty.

[Eric Santucci]

Hi Eric,

 

I was going to ask that very question but Pete beat me to it.

 

Gents,

 

Sorry for the late reply (lots of Halloween activities with the kids this weekend). Regarding the papers - we are in the middle of the "unagi" story right now, which will hopefully end a little differently. They simply papered to Mito; however, Mike and Cyrus feel strongly about a specific attribution to a maker and it is under discussion with NBTHK now.

 

Whether they paper to a specific maker or not, they are a gorgeous set, so I am pleased. They will actually be removed from consignment soon as I had decided to pull them from the market. Once I get them back in hand in the month ahead I will start a new thread and take some macro photos of them.

 

Robert S., your koshirae is outstanding!

[Ford Hallam]

Ford, I have to say that your evaluation of the piece is very educational; I have read it twice and have included a screen shot of it with my file on the sword. The ability to integrate the cultural references, artistic elements and technical refinements is a rare skill, and, at the risk of sounding like a rabid fan, I think that these abilities shine through in your work, which is truly remarkable. I hope one day to own one of your works of art. Cheers, Bob

 

Why thank you Robert, I might almost blush :D Glad to have been able to offer a few thoughts on your fine koshirae.

[Soshin]

Hi Eric Santucci,

 

I have seen many very nice unsigned Kinko tosogu works by the Mito school. My menuki are also unsigned so a school attribution might be all that is given if they are submitted to shinsa. One of the advantages of NBTHK submission is that they will take into consideration comments made by the submitter. This isn't permitted in NTHK or NTHK(NPO) shinsa. Good luck your submission to the NBTHK. For my menuki I am thinking of submitting them to either the NTHK shinsa in April 2015 or NBTHK in 2015 via Mike and Cyrus.