A Beautiful Matchlock Pistol (Bajōzutsu)

[Brian]

At least that is how they described it.

http://www.czernys.com/auctions_lot.php?oggetto=55478&asta=50&lang=eng

People on another forum raving about it. Frankly, it doesn't do much for me. The stock shape is contrived, and I really don't think the work on those clouds is brilliantly done. Barrel decorations done nicely, but late Edo work.

A nice pistol for sure...but worth  4200 Euro? Not in my opinion. Stuff like this looks flashy and great on first look, and then more gaudy and poorly done the closer you look. Am I way off here?

 

Brian

[Bugyotsuji]

For a number of reasons, Brian, I agree with you, but is it right to express opinions that might influence an upcoming auction?

[Brian]

Piers,

The auction closed already last week. Started at 1700 Euro and closed at 4200.

 

Brian

[estcrh]

I think this is a nice example of a late Edo pistol, I say late due to the decoration and the belt hook which I think is something only seen on late Edo matchlock pistols. The price is in my opinion way out of line but when you look at prices of similar pistols sold by Japanese dealers in Japan many are priced in the same neighborhood. I have seen much lower quality decorations so while not top of the line it is surely not bottom of the line either, for the right price I would not have a problem owning it.

 

Below for comparison I have added two Japanese matchlock pistols recently sold at auction, one is bronze barreled and much more subtlely decorated, it sold for around $2000, the other has almost no decoration and some minor stock repairs, it is bronze barreled and sold for around $800. Personally I like all three of these pistols.

 

 

 

 

LOT NO. 165

Beautiful gun fuse (Bajōzutsu)

WEAPONS, ARMATURE & ACCESSORIES Japanese origin:   Japan dating:   XIX Sec.   description:   Smooth barrel, octagonal base with mei under mon, along the length finely engraved with dragon called into silver and gold, get up and viewfinder, flew to cannon, cal. 14 mm; Side cap iron inlaid with silver and brass copriscodellino; battery folder curved decorated like the dog and the band in silver clouds, near the end a kanji. Wooden full stock with brass furniture, trigger ball, hook belt decorated en suite. Wand cylindrical timber. Rare.   conditions:   excellent dimensions:  

length 33.5 cm. 

 

€ 4,200.00 (starting price € 1700.00)

 

 

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Again, I have to agree with Brian, but without taking it in hand I cannot be sure. It looks very good generally, especially the barrel itself and the underlying brass lockwork, but certain aspects make one stop and think. (I have never seen or heard of a belt-hook on a Japanese matchlock, only on Dondoru percussion cap pistols.) Some vital parts are not shown in the photos. A judgment call here is not for the faint-hearted.

 

The butt shape suggests Inoue-Ryu school, but nothing else supports this.The wood is covered in Western-style varnish, often a sign of a new stock. (Compare surface finish with Eric's No.3 pic above). Much of the Zogan inlay is not true Hon-Zogan inlay, but an application onto a scratched/cross-hatched surface, called Nunome-Zogan, with large areas of the cross-hatch exposed. My guess is that it was applied at an even later date.

 

To summarize, not exactly what the description implies, and expensive indeed, but a nice decorative piece for the Western taste.

[estcrh]

 a nice decorative piece for the Western taste.

Piers, is it that hard to believe that some Japanese buyers liked this style of decoration? I see a lot matchlocks that never left Japan that are highly decorated. Here is an example of one that never left Japan so it must have been owned by someone in Japan for well over 100 years.

 

As for the stock of the matchlock pistol being discussed, if you look at the stock you can see scratch marks, it could just as easily have been refinished at some point in its life rather than having a new stock, the belt clip as well could have been added at a later date, or it could be of very late manufacture, even Meiji period.

 

[Brian]

Eric,

This topic comes up regularly it seems.

I don't think that, when referring to "Western tastes" we are always specifically saying they were made for export. During the Meiji times the Japanese aesthetic changed a lot, and maybe the refined tea-taste sensibility evolved so that gaudy and overdone was a lot more accepted among the higher classes. This would have been enhanced by the Western tastes that were permeating the society in general. Higher class people would have wanted to be more flashy and noticeable, and what was considered tasteful before was surely too subtle for many Japanese.

You see this particularly in tsuba of course, but guns would have been the same.

I tend to the "decorations added later" school of thought on this one, along with Piers. The stock just doesn't "gel" for me either. The shape looks contrived and not balanced. Or Japanese. But since the lock is curved to match, I am willing to concede that it might be original and refinished.

The important thing here is that I am not saying it is a bad pistol. On the contrary..I think it is very nice and a great addition to any collection. In my own personal opinion I just don't see it as worth that much. But since it sold for that price...clearly others do. I would love to own it...I have wanted a pistol matchlock for a long time. But am still attracted to the plainer ones more than this one, which I feel was made more for show and less for "go"

 

Brian

[estcrh]

Eric,

This topic comes up regularly it seems.

I don't think that, when referring to "Western tastes" we are always specifically saying they were made for export. During the Meiji times the Japanese aesthetic changed a lot, and maybe the refined tea-taste sensibility evolved so that gaudy and overdone was a lot more accepted among the higher classes. This would have been enhanced by the Western tastes that were permeating the society in general. Higher class people would have wanted to be more flashy and noticeable, and what was considered tasteful before was surely too subtle for many Japanese.

 

Brian, I agree with you but this particular statement "a nice decorative piece for the Western taste" appears to mean that this is something that a Japanese national would not have owned and that it was solely made for Westerners. I could be wrong, maybe Piers will elaborate. I have no problem with the idea that a certain type of decoration was solely made for export but were is the evidence of this? Some people seem to feel that the samurai had a very refined taste in things and would never own an item that was not aesthetically pleasing, zen like, artistically refined etc and that "gaudy" was out of the question.

 

Below is a wonderful example of the highly refined Japanese aesthetic taste.

[Jean]

Gone with the winds.... LOL

 

BTW, I habe seen a similar example on a Hokusai oban.

[Justin Grant]

Eric, I don't think that type of print was mainstream by any means, just as today. So to equate a social structure to a sub social structure just does not work.

Now, I think there were/are items just for export, and items not designed just for export. Trick is, what are the indicators that one uses to identify as such.

[estcrh]

Eric, I don't think that type of print was mainstream by any means, just as today. So to equate a social structure to a sub social structure just does not work.

Now, I think there were/are items just for export, and items not designed just for export. Trick is, what are the indicators that one uses to identify as such.

Justin, take a look at some shunga (Japanese erotic art), not aesthetic pleasing or acceptable in terms of Western tastes but very mainstream in Japan. My point is that we can not judge by our standards or modern Japanese standards what may or may not have been acceptable in Japanese society as far as decorations in the late Edo/early Meiji, you really have to do some research and be able to show some sort of evidence.

 

Now how do you really know which type of decorations were definately not liked by samurai during the late Edo/early Meiji, that is an interesting question, any suggestions?

[Bugyotsuji]

Sakai guns below a certain caliber (1.3cm +/-) were highly decorated. They were used for shooting small game in the marshes and hills, and owned by ostentatious Osaka merchants, who liked to flaunt their wealth, despite the many restrictions on gaudiness under laws introduced by the Tokugawa. They had also managed to push for the right to wear a Wakizashi.

 

The Yakuza have always loved bright and shiny and flashy. Even the word Iro 色, literally 'color/colour' has a whole slew of meanings we do not find in English. It indicates a whole forbidden underworld, such as tattoos, and strongly includes a sexual sense of lechery, debauchery. The farting scrolls were secretly shown to one's closest and most trusted friends, but there was a pleasurably dangerous paranoia at the thought of being found out.

 

Westerners visiting Japan tended to snap up the brighter and more decorated items, as they still do today. Chinese objects tend/ed to be more gaudy and more popular. Naturally there are those in the West who prefer more subtlety, as there are many in Japan. Minimalism rules, or once ruled.

 

The final gun you posted above, Eric, would offend many Japanese people's sense of taste, but there will always be people wanting something cheerful and decorative regardless, in fact the flashier the better. There are exceptions to every rule, and bling can be king.

[Bugyotsuji]

PS The single attractive Kanji character on the barrel of the first gun that started this thread reads 飾 Kazari, which means simply "decoration" or "ornamentation", to me an unthinkable word on a serious gun.

[estcrh]

Sakai guns below a certain caliber (1.3cm +/-) were highly decorated. They were used for shooting small game in the marshes and hills, and owned by ostentatious Osaka merchants, who liked to flaunt their wealth, 

 Piers, this statement is what I am looking for as far as a written or pictorial reference  "and owned by ostentatious Osaka merchants", have you ever read this in any book either in Japanese or English or seen a print which depicts this? I have read about Osaka merchants and their excesses but I have never been able to find any reference to Osaka merchants even owning guns, let alone highly decorated ones. which does not mean that this is not in fact true, I am simply asking for some type of evidence.

 

I know that this taken as fact by some people but were exactly did this knowledge come from? I know that in Japan if someone is considered to be a knowledgable authority on a subject you are not supposed to question were that person obtained his knowledge but in the end it has to come from some source other than word of mouth. If there is no way to show that a statement is a fact then it is a theory.

 

On the other hand there is a lot of information that discusses the excesses of the higher samurai class when it came to their lifestyle and showing off their power and wealth. I posted below one example.

 

 

[IanB]

I don't want to be a party pooper about this decorated gun but the belt hook is on the wrong way. Who carries a pistol with the muzzle upwards? 

Ian Bottomley

[Brian]

Ian,

Noted in the thread about this on another forum. But odd, because if it was switched around, it would be very unbalanced and rear-heavy. So ....

 

Brian

[Bugyotsuji]

Chatting today and heard the following. Not only rich merchants but anyone was allowed to carry a blade of wakizashi length or less. The once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Ise, for example, was rounded off with the purchase of a wakizashi to take home afterwards. Cheap and crudely made, they were nicknamed Ise-mono, or something similar.

 

The big difference between decorated Sakai/Settsu/Sesshu/Osaka guns and understated Kunitomo guns, stemmed from their the method of sale.

 

Kunitomo guns were largely ordered in advance, made to order, and sent off upon completion.

 

Sakai guns were, on the other hand, made in advance and placed in racks in the shop front, competing with other local gunsmiths for custom off the street. For this reason they became more and more eye-catching, apparently.

[Justin Grant]

Dear Piers,



When do you suppose this timeframe was? If we take Noel Perrin at face value, guns were restricted and centrally controlled, which we know was not 100% actual practice, regardless of edict. So, when do you estimate this open market gun sale to the general population took place?

[Bugyotsuji]

Justin, you raise an interesting question, and my imagination works overtime. The dog Shogun banned hunting altogether and the country was overrun with bold and pesky wild animals. A series of edicts throughout the Tokugawa/Edo period suggests to me that gun-use laws needed to be reinforced periodically, but as with wakizashi, perhaps with guns there was a limit to the size of caliber/bore that was allowed to the general populace for hunting. There is a difference in appearance between army guns and small-game hunting guns, and this difference may well have had some foundation in the laws. Those highly-decorated Sakai guns fit into mid to late Edo in my brain, but based upon what, you might well ask. I will put out some feelers for more information.

[Justin Grant]

Thank you Piers!!

[estcrh]

I don't want to be a party pooper about this decorated gun but the belt hook is on the wrong way. Who carries a pistol with the muzzle upwards? 

Ian Bottomley

Ian, if it is not a belt hook, then the hook may have some other use, such as hanging it within hands reach in a norimono or by a bed for example.

[estcrh]

Chatting today and heard the following........The big difference between decorated Sakai/Settsu/Sesshu/Osaka guns and understated Kunitomo guns, stemmed from their the method of sale. Kunitomo guns were largely ordered in advance, made to order, and sent off upon completion. Sakai guns were, on the other hand, made in advance and placed in racks in the shop front, competing with other local gunsmiths for custom off the street. For this reason they became more and more eye-catching, apparently.

So who was allowed to buy a gun, could anyone with enough money purchase a gun or were there restrictions?

 

Sakai gun shop.

[Bugyotsuji]

Great picture Eric! A very good question that we need to follow up!

 

Notice that the description top right says the shop is selling 鳥銃 Tori Ju ie "Bird Guns"

[estcrh]

Great picture Eric! A very good question that we need to follow up!

 

Notice that the description top right says the shop is selling 鳥銃 Tori Ju ie "Bird Guns"

Piers, without your translation how would I "notice" that!!!  Very interesting though. I wonder if there was a gun ownership for restriction for commoners based in caliber in the same way that commoners had a size restriction on sword ownership.

[estcrh]

Here is another gun shop image, I am not sure how old this one is. The other one seems to be Edo Period.

[Bugyotsuji]

Very similar. The banners say "Kaji-Ya" (Smith's shop)  and "Tori Ju" (Bird Guns)

[Justin Grant]

Piers

 

Stupid question, but what would be considered a small caliber?

[Bugyotsuji]

If you look at Sawada San's book (he is based in Sakai, so we can assume that Osaka is where his heart is), on p.29 he describes the decorated Sakai guns as being under 3.5 Monme, and anything above that as being unadorned army guns.

[estcrh]

Piers, I believe this text in Japanese has something to do with decorated guns.

 

太平の鉄砲

 

島原の乱が終わり平和な時代を迎えると、火縄銃も装飾が施されるなど、新しい時代を迎えました。

 

太平の時代、火縄銃の兵器としての役割は小さくなり、代わって武道の心得としての要素が大きくなった。

また狩猟の道具としても使われ、普及とともに、銃身に家紋を入れる装飾的傾向が一部に見られるようになった。

 

銃身の象嵌

鉄の黒地に、金・銀・真鍮などが、定紋や花鳥・人物として埋め込まれました。

 

台木の装飾

飾り金具がつき、時に蒔絵の紋や唐草模様が描かれました。

火縄銃の欠点を補う、新しい動きもでてきました。

 

[IanB]

Eric,  Needham quotes from the Chinese book 'Chhou Hai Thu Pien' published in 1562 ( Needham J. Science and Civilisation in China, Vol5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7: Military Technology; The Gunpowder Epic, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986)  that illustrates guns introduced by the Portuguese that are identical with those used in Japan. The Chinese called these guns 'bird beaked guns', one illustration being of the stock / pistol grip of such a gun with the image of a bird's head superimposed. It then goes on to say that they were sometimes called 'bird guns' and adds that this is still the name used for what we call a shotgun. Whilst the Chinese knew of these guns they didn't adopt them, preferring to use Turkish guns as a model. It looks as if the Japanese used the same terminology.

Ian Bottomley