Umetada Tsuba

[rkg]

Hi,

since I haven't posted any new images for a while, here are a few of a piece I  got not too long ago:

 

 

The piece represents maple leaves , is signed Umetada, and measures 79.1mm (H) X 73.15mm (W) X 4.45mm (T, at nakago ana), 3.81mm (T, near mimi).  you can see that it is (was) a bit corroded in the lower r,h, quadrant on the back - I did the usual "5 minutes of rubbing" on the area, but am not certain I want to mess with it more than that.  A yakite shitate surface are supposed to be a chemical etch, but if you look at that area, it seems like the surface is more rust resistant than the substrate.  you can see some crosshatching under the gold on the veins, so it appears to be nunome work.  I think its from the Edo period, though maybe earlier than later (seems like the later work is less "tea tasty" in general).,

 

I reshot it to make the mei more visible - I'll show both sides here shot the same way since it highlights different features of the piece:

 

 

Enjoy,

rkg

(RIchard George

 

 

 

 

[seattle1]

Hello:

 Excellent looking piece Richard!

 Arnold

[Bazza]

STUNNER Richard, STUNNER.  I love it.  Shame about the surface deterioration for such a fine piece.  Silly question time - do you know anything about its history to get like that?  I would have thought that such a fine tsuba might have had an easier life.  Here is a dim-witted thought for the cognoscenti - is it meant to look like that??  Y'know, rustic, wabi sabi and all that jazz??

 

BaZZa

[Japan2112]

Really nice, Richard.I thought the yakite shitate was all in the heating and mokume gitae added the chemical etch to enhance differences in iron, but it's nice to always learn more. I like the 2nd round of images, as it looks like a "harder" surface, but which set has the closest color? The darker is also very nice. 

[rkg]

Mark,

I suppose the yakite thing is still a up in the air - I've seen several sources say its a chemical treatment, and it kind of makes sense.  One fellow I know did a bunch of experiments and claimed he could get the finish, but from his description his process sounded pretty brutal, and I think any kind of fine surface details like are on this piece (including the mei which seems to have been added before the finish - kind of like you see on early yummies) would be eroded away.  Maybe  they used a "hot" process on pieces with little added surface detail like ones binned as Kanayama or something, but on stuff like this...

 

The first image shows the color of the iron more - what you are seeing in the second image is the reflection of the light on the surface (kind of a trade off - color vs. detail).

 

Best,

rkg

(Richard George)

 

 

Really nice, Richard.I thought the yakite shitate was all in the heating and mokume gitae added the chemical etch to enhance differences in iron, but it's nice to always learn more. I like the 2nd round of images, as it looks like a "harder" surface, but which set has the closest color? The darker is also very nice. 

[rkg]

Good question on the wabi-sabi "look" -  Its always enlightening to get un-messed with pieces out of Japan as you can see lots of examples of pretty worn down/decayed pieces that were loved and used and used - its amazing what they seemed to leave in place.

 

But I don't think this corrosion on this piece was left for the aesthetic (though I probably will), if you look at the seppa plug on the back in the same quadrant, the bottom of it is corroded as well, which would make me think it wasn't deliberate/was maybe fairly recent (well, in the last 50 years or something?).  I don't know the piece's history (I actually found it on fleabay of all places).

 

Best,

rkg

(Richard George)

 

 

 

STUNNER Richard, STUNNER.  I love it.  Shame about the surface deterioration for such a fine piece.  Silly question time - do you know anything about its history to get like that?  I would have thought that such a fine tsuba might have had an easier life.  Here is a dim-witted thought for the cognoscenti - is it meant to look like that??  Y'know, rustic, wabi sabi and all that jazz??

 

BaZZa

[Toryu2020]

Love it, signature looks early...

and just for fun