Shakudo Questions Relating To Tsuba

[JohnTo]

At last I've managed to paste my text!

 

Looking at various tsuba incorporating shakudo has raised some questions in my mind.  Shakudo, as we all should know, is a copper alloy with about 5% gold, which when treated correctly, produces a lovely blue black patina.

In the Edo period I believe that the Togugawa shogunate specified shakudo sword fittings for samurai attending the court and so boosted the sales of the Mino Goto school workers, who were the master craftsmen with this material.  Their products were no doubt expensive and not all samurai could afford the genuine article and frequently bought cheaper imitations made by other schools.  Much like today where people buy ‘knockoffs’ of designer goods.  I think that this was part of the Togugawa strategy to keep the daimyo poor and thus unable to have sufficient money to fund a rebellion.

The most common Goto imitation tsuba seem to be the Nagoyamono (Things from Nagoya), which seem to frequently appear on Japanese dealers Ebay and UK auctions.  I use the term Nagoyamono from the Christies Compton Catalogue.  I have recently picked up three in mixed lots.  They all seem to have the same common features, namely: Mokko shape and same size (6.8x6.1 cm for wakizashi), nanako ground with a gilt nanako rim (not a fukurin), a seppa dai with 10 punch marks in a characteristic pattern (probably the manufacturer’s quality control approval mark; Note there is one of mine that does not look like it passed QC and has no punch marks) and standard designs, cast from a mold, then finished by hand (nanako punched and gilded).  Designs I have seen in the last few months include the Treasure Ship, Pagoda, Lady writing, Deer amongst plants, Samurai mice, Chrysanthemums, Dragon and Chinese sages.  Another example of a Goto clone that I have recently acquired is a Soten tsuba for a katana (see pic).  Soten are famous for their dubiously signed iron sukashi tsuba depicting heroic samurai scenes, but they also seem to have made kinko tsuba, again with little samurai figures.  The other common feature of these two types of tsuba is the patina of the seppa dai; its milk chocolate brown, not blue black.  The main body of the tsuba, in my examples ranges from what looks like black paint to chocolate brown colour where original patina has been lost.  The words ‘shakudo’, ‘Mino’ and ‘Goto’ seem to appear with great regularity in the sales description of these tsuba, although, to be fair, some sites do omit these terms.

My questions regarding this type of tsuba are: Can the base metal be considered to be shakudo, or is it a bronze alloy more suitable for casting and, perhaps, devoid of gold content?  Nigurome, the impure copper used in shakudo is a possibility but is it suitable for casting, unlike copper?  Has Ford applied his friend’s XRF spectrometer to any?  Is the brown patina solely due to the alloy or due to the Goto craftsmen keeping the patination process a closely guarded secret?

Lets now turn to hitsu ana plugs.  I have several iron tsuba with shakudo plugs in one or both of the hitsu ana (see example).  All of these are blue black shakudo.  So why are these ‘real shakudo’ when the kinko tsuba are not?  I suspect I’ve answered this question above and it is because the kinko tsuba use an alloy more suitable for casting whereas a sheet of shakudo can be easily shaped into a plug.  Also, I can’t see the point of a samurai going to the expense of having a hitsu ana plug fitted to a sukashi tsuba when the body of the tsuba is full of holes (piercings)!  Were plugs offered as an optional extra by the maker?

Best regards, John

So many questions, so much to learn ,so little time.

[TETSUGENDO]

John, If you simply read your post you do, indeed, seem to have answered your own questions.  These are inferior, relatively inexpensive products, it's doubtful Gold was used in their production.  They are made of a copper alloy given a dark patina that would satisfy the indiscriminate.  Ford should be able to give you info on the most likely composition of the alloy used.  As far as the hitsu ume ("plugs") are concerned, they are often filled when mounted in a way that does not utilize the hitsu ana.

 

-S-

[Bazza]

JohnTo wrote:

 

> Lets now turn to hitsu ana plugs.  I have several iron tsuba with shakudo plugs in one or both of the hitsu ana (see example

 

This needs a little amplification.  In my experience the hitsuana plugs are not solid.  Rather, they are composed of a separate, thinner sheet plug fitted to each side of the hitsu ana.  Any dissenters???

 

BaZZa.

[kissakai]

I have had one side of a missing hitsu ana plug which I believe is comom practice (one was replace by Ford)

[TETSUGENDO]

My experience has been that they are in one or two solid pieces, sometimes gilt, covered in foil or veneered with another metal. I haven't seen hollow ones but, since Barry has, they obviously exist.  BTW, some opulent decorated examples were produced by famous makers.

 

-S-

[JohnTo]

Bazza,

Please read carefully, I said

'a sheet of shakudo can be easily shaped into a plug', i.e. a thin sheet, beaten into shape over a forner in the same way as a menuki or kashira.  I agree that they are hollow, at least the only half of a loose one that I have seen outside a tsuba was

 

regards, John.

[Geraint]

Dear John.

 

You have probably already come across this but just in case.... http://www.shibuiswords.com/tsuba.htm

 

From the examples I have seen they do follow standard designs, though sometimes you come across one and think it is unique, only to have another one turn up.  I have seen the base metal described as nigurome, I can't speak for it's casting properties though I think these are made in a rather more traditional way in that they are not cast as detailed pieces in the way that one sees for modern castings.  I have yet to come across one with a missing piece of inlay that would confirm that the major decorative elements are inlaid into the plate.  I have come across examples which clearly do have hon zogan decoration.  I have also noticed a range of quality from downright embarrassing, really lumpy carving and weak nanako, to really quite good.  There have been a couple of nice examples on Nihonto.us, Andy Quirt's site. 

 

 

I have also seen them optimistically described as Mino Goto or just Goto by sellers who one must regard as optimistic.   I suspect that if were to start looking at the stylistic traits, such as they are, then we would soon be assigning quite a number of kodzuka and fuchi kashira to the same category though I have never seen either of these so ascribed.   If Hayne's suggestion is correct then at least they were made for and used by samurai rather than being made solely for export to the West.

 

 

 

All the best.

[Ford Hallam]

John, not to be overly pedantic but neither menuki or kashira are beaten into shape over a former.

[Bazza]

To be VERY overly pedantic, neither menuki NOR kashira are beaten into shape over a former...

 

BaZZa

(mit luffinks)

[Ford Hallam]