This Week's Edo Period Corner

[cabowen]

http://m-imajo.main.jp/m-imajo/akari/akarimuseum/folder3/tokaidoakarimuseum-e.html

[Bugyotsuji]

Chris, many thanks. The link didn't work but I got around it and found the site you mentioned before and thank goodness my memory was intact! I even remember Yui; it was one of the stations on the Todaido and I have a faded Hiroshige print of it!

[cabowen]

Sorry about that....the link in my post has been fixed....

 

Yes, an old Tokkaido town on the coast that hasn't changed a whole lot.....highly recommended for a taste of yesterday's Japan....

[Bugyotsuji]

Just to keep this thread topped up, and to alleviate any lurking boredom, while we are still thinking about old lamps, here are four shots Left to Right from slightly closer up.

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

A wonderful collection, ...

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks Ron.

 

Have you seen some of the prices realized on the first day of the Harriet Szechenyi Netsuke and Inro sales at Bonhams in London... breaking records galore!!!

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

I've always enjoyed the few Netsuke that I own, ... but I find such an auction as the Harriet Szechenyi Auction has the effect of causing great damage to a hobby. With prices as obscene as 265,250 Pounds for a tiny ivory carving, .... suddenly everyone feels their netsuke are under-valued and the dealers get caught up in the feeding frenzie. I have NEVER seen a Netsuke with a realistic value approaching 2500 pounds let alone the number of 15,000 - 25,000 pound netsuke being offered and actually SOLD. There are people with too much money and too little brains in this doomed world !

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, there are rumours doing the rounds as to who shelled out such big bills for one Netsuke. (Think M.E. and give it a shake.) An Inro also fetched exactly the same price, BTW. Some collectors are smiling as they see this lifting the whole Netsuke value across the board. I received the Bonhams catalog(ue) today for last week's sale with Neil Davey's preamble in both E and J, and it is stunningly beautifully done. 35 GBP... & cheap at the price.

 

Here is a mystery pic. Can anyone tell what they are? The square/rectangular objects are about the size of a small matchbox, but much thinner. The cloth case is about the size of a 100 yen lighter. It contains five objects, each about the size of a thumbnail and as thick as a Shogi (J chess) piece.

[Bugyotsuji]

Actually you may have seen the top two already in this thread somewhere. I have grown old in the meantime.

 

So here are the rest of the shots anyway. 5 x Different metals (?)

[Bugyotsuji]

Lady's bits.

 

The two flat containers are carved from solid ivory, one piece for the base and one for the lid. They would have contained a slice of 'beni' rouge for the lips. The Beni seller would come round with a block of it and slice some off. The slice was called 'beni-ita' and the container 'beni-ita-ire'.

 

The little metal boxes would have contained various cosmetics, the whole ensemble small enough to fit into the smallest carry fold. Not sure on the age of this last. Guessing Meiji/Showa by the silk/velvety clasp material?

[estcrh]

Lady's bits.

 

The two flat containers are carved from solid ivory, one piece for the base and one for the lid. They would have contained a slice of 'beni' rouge for the lips. The Beni seller would come round with a block of it and slice some off. The slice was called 'beni-ita' and the container 'beni-ita-ire'.

 

The little metal boxes would have contained various cosmetics, the whole ensemble small enough to fit into the smallest carry fold. Not sure on the age of this last. Guessing Meiji/Showa by the silk/velvety clasp material?

Thanks Piers, I have never seen these pictured before, its always nice learning something new.

[Bugyotsuji]

Eric, thanks for the feedback. Renewed my faith!!! :lol:

 

Actually the little metal box set kind of mystifies me. Who made them, for whom and why? (Given to me by a collector friend.)

 

Right now I am going to do a web search and see if I can discover anything... you have tickled my curiosity!

[John A Stuart]

Piers, were these only for women? The buge were known for their use of cosmetics, tooth black, rouge etc., I believe. Quite common for the British officer to have the rouge box as well, to colour their lips and cheeks to allay the idea they could be fearful going into battle and have that blanched look. John

[Bugyotsuji]

John, I don't know. Just now I found some similar boxes on a Japanese blog site, but the owner knew little about them. He had three originally but then found one more of a slightly different size, making four in all. His suggestion was for 丸薬　'ganyaku' which sounds like creosote balls for stomach ailments. (?) I wish I could find someone who knows.

 

O-haguro sets for tooth blackening tend to be much larger, but yes, I have heard that court men also blackened their teeth for fashion.

 

As to the two ivory Beni-ita-ire rouge boxes, I passed on what the dealer told me. He has sold me three of these so far. One I gave to a lady friend some time back. He seemed quite sure that a) a slice of Beni was inserted as necessary, and b) they would have been for a high ranking lady.

[John A Stuart]

丸薬 Any round pill, no? I had medications from China that were hand rolled, some quite large, TCM. Maybe the larger ones were a pill box as in western style. Women may have their own type of pill box as the men had inro 印籠 as well as the rouge boxes. John

[Bugyotsuji]

Hmmm... now you have introduced a measure of doubt into my mind, John. No bad thing! For men, you think? One shows a fishing net suspended among some reeds. The other seems to be a scene from Lady Murasaki's Genji Monogatari.

 

As to the 'hand-rolled pills' (I like the phrase) it was just the opinion of one blogger, but I see that they could have been any pill. The only ones I have come across recently are Jintan, and Sei-ro-gan, said to have been created for the Russo-Japanese war around 1904/5.

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

I would like to take this opportunity to echo Eric's sentiments regarding the Ladies Make -up boxes, ... and/or pill containers. Most interesting and a pleasant diversion from the normal threads of late dealing with the ever increasing number of Chinese Fake swords and cast tsuba. Please post more of your " bits " as you call them. These artifacts are of great interest and give us all a better perspective of life during the Edo Period.

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Thank you for the kind sentiments, Ron. Allow a week to pass and all kinds of doubts begin to assail me concerning this over-long thread. The occasional reaction (of any kind) certainly keeps me honest!

[Bugyotsuji]

No int connection at home so on iPhone. Will stay brief. Been on the trail of the Holy of Holies, well to me anyway. In order to purchase it I have been forced to liquidate one long gun, one early Edo toppai helmet and a little sweetening cash to tip the scales. Will post a pic tomorrow as a teaser. It's from around the last years of Edo, not in perfect condition, but an absolute one-off.

[estcrh]

Been on the trail of the holy of holies, well to me anyway. In order to purchase it I have been forced to liquidate one long gun, one early Edo toppai helmet and a little sweetening cash to tip the scales. Will post a pic tomorrow as a teaser.

You sold one of your tanegashima? This has to be good!!!

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, Eric, when I said Holy of Holies, perhaps I should have said more like one of the Holy Grail, set of 12, hard-to-find baseball cards.. :lol:

 

Here is the teaser I promised yesterday. Apologies for the delay. My internet is only running on two cylinders at the moment. Do not worry if you cannot guess from these pics. Probably no-one can.

[Bugyotsuji]

On third thoughts, perhaps Rosetta Stone.

[Baka Gaijin]

Hi Piers

 

That tsuba-like shape looks like a mounted barrel and stock would fit into it.

 

My guess is a handgun in full koshirae

 

Cheers

[Bugyotsuji]

You are quite close, Malcolm.

 

Now I have seen Tanto Koshirae with a hidden gun inside which slides out like a knife, usually with some kind of a percussion lock. In fact, I have seen several examples of these, and by the nature of the lock, it can be guessed that they were popular through the years of the Meiji Restoration. There are also various types of percussion Nigiri-deppo with a lever which you could squeeze against the barrel to get off a shot from your sleeve or your pocket.

 

Is it one of these?

 

No, and it's older, from the Koka/Kaei Periods, before these new-fangled contraptions, and is innocent of any hidden purpose.

[Bugyotsuji]

"Well, that was a bit of an anti-climax, wasn't it! Shot yourself in the foot with that one, eh?" ...is what I can hear wafting over the ethers. Who is guilty of such thoughts?

 

To set the record straight, I gave a lecture in Japanese this year in town which was well received, but lacked any really good back-up example material. Until now...

 

Now, what if you found a gun made by a swordsmith in the employment of the Daimyo, and recognized in his own right first as a swordsmith in a major area of the Gokaden? What if such a swordsmith later established a name as a gunsmith and rare works by him are highly sought after? What if the gun was made as a special order for another famous Daimyo? What if it was designed to be carried in a Kago, but could also have been stuck into an obi somewhat like a wakizashi? What if the gun showed clear evidence of two distinct gunsmithing areas of Japan? What if the Kamon suggested the marriage of two familes? What if the gun possessed attributes of the sword, such as a tsuba? What if the gun was a cavalry pistol when existing examples of such are rare in that area, and what if that area was already known for the most famous usage of cavalry pistols in battle in Japan? What if it attempted to harmonize two fields traditionally mutually antagonistic...

 

What would you call it then? Like the Holy Grail, "elusive"?

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

Could the SMITH be Hankei ?? ( Noda Denjiro Kiyotaka )

... Ron Watson

[Bugyotsuji]

Dang it, Ron, you have upped the ante. No, sorry, nothing as fancy as that, but... Hankei/Kiyotaka... what an incredible smith!

 

(Well, I did hedge my bets with the "Holy Grail set of 12"... Need to head out into the boondocks a little more though. OK I'll get my coat.)

 

PS I can just see Tokugawa Ieyasu with a streaming cold, needing to deal severely with the unfortunate lackey who gave it to him. "Pass me a Hankei!"

[estcrh]

Waiting patiently Piers.

[Bugyotsuji]

A Bizen Kakaeko swordsmith, Yokoyama Tatsuemon Sukenobu, indentured to the Lord Ikeda from 1827-1858, made this Kago-zutsu gun (possibly in the 1840s) in Satsuma style, but with conscious Bizen characteristics. Took the name Yokoyama in 1843. Mei. 「総巻張」 「備前長船横山祐信作」

[watsonmil]

Dear Piers,

Oh my, .... MORE PHOTOS please. From what I can see VERY beautiful. Please post dimensions as well as the caliber !

Congratulations on your new acquisition .

... Ron Watson