New discovery Natsuo kozuka...

[masakatsu]

Hello All.  Just thought I would pop this up here for discussion...  Came out of hiding last year and was papered directly to Tokuho in Reiwa 1.

 

 

[paulb]

Matt,

I think that is absolutely stunning. To achieve the image with such economy and such a simplistic composition is truly incredible.

A beautiful thing. Enjoy

[Tanto54]

Matt,

 

That's beautiful!  Would love to hear more about how it "came out of hiding"...

[1kinko]

Absolutely beautiful, but it looks like the silver (if that's what it is) moon reflection needs some minor restoration. I'm definitely jealous.

[Pete Klein]

I just can't resist:  

 

 

Backstreet, Ft. Lauderdale!!!

[Tanto54]

Here it is from Natsuo's sketchbook (looks like there may be another version out there too).

 

[Brian]

Privilege just to gaze at the pics. What a master he was.

[kissakai]

Stunning

[nagamaki - Franco]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

 

Could you tell us who handled the submission for you?

Custom box making?

 

Thank you

[terminus]

Natsuo is just the king of sublime. Not too much, just enough to convey incredible aesthetic design. Great piece!

[peterd]

Is it the moons reflection in shakudo 

[lonely panet]

Pebbles in river? Or the moons reflection in the ocean? ???

[Ford Hallam]

Lovely piece, certainly one of my favourites. There's a very similar, or the same one, illustrated in the Natsuo Taikan.

 

I believe that the moon's reflection is silver but that it has tarnished to an almost back patina over time. The graininess of the sulphide layer can be seen in the enlarged image.

[masakatsu]

Here are a few more pics.  One with the Natsuo in my care next to the sketch in question, one from the MET and another from Boston MFA.

 

 

 

[Ford Hallam]

I was showing this beautiful kozuka to my partner, also a goldsmith, this morning. She commented similarly to others here that the silver could do with a bit of cleaning. This then prompted me to ramble off on an impromptu 'lecture' on some specifics of Japanese aesthetics.

 

For what it's worth I'll try and condense what I was saying to add a little food for thought. 

 

The first point I'd make is that unlike the situation in Europe from the 16th century ( ish) and the rise of the notion of artists as independent creative individuals the distinction between what we understand as craft and fine art was only something that started to take hold in the very late 19th century in Japan.

 

What this means is that almost all items we'd regard as art were conceived, in Edo Japan, as being firstly artefacts. That is to say cultural objects. As such what happens to these objects over the course of their existence becomes an integral part of the object itself. Any obvious decorative aspects or artistic expression remains, is altered in appearance and is added to by time. We might even say the work matures.

 

So what we then have is a multilayered object to experience.

 

And at this point it will be obvious that the teachings of wabi and sabi are at play.

 

But wabi and sabi are too often reduced to simplistic adjectives that give the impression that the matter has been adequately described whereas in truth the words themselves put a stop to a deeper understanding. Incidentally, this is why I almost wince whenever I read those trite terms.

 

To more adequately delve into this aesthetic it's necessary to go to the actual source of these impulses as they are expressed in Japanese art. This is in poetry, literature and Buddhist philosophy.

 

Yoshida Kenko ( b.1283 ) writing in his 'Essays in Idleness' advises on the most suitable decoration for a tokonoma in a tea room. He makes it very clear that a freshly created and 'perfect' hanging scroll, lavishly mounted, would miss the whole point. For Kenko the scroll becomes 'right' only once it has aged some, the paper or silk a little faded and worn, the tassels perhaps showing signs of becoming threadbare, a worn hem a tiny tear etc.

 

Kenko seems to be telling us that the fresh, clean and new is almost an affront to nature. Even the most fresh things born in nature, flowers or blossoms for example, are only in that instant of unsullied perfection for a very brief moment. Any intellectual attempt to freeze that moment is utterly artificial and at odds with the very essential cycle of existence. This is why the underlying and vital scent of Japanese aesthetics is inevitably one of yearning, a melancholy longing. 

 

A big bold 'new moon' in the night sky is impressive, it might evoke a feeling of awe, 'aware' even, but in its impressive boldness it can also silence our own, more subtle. emotions. It might run the risk of being seen as art to impress, and not art to commune with.

 

But when a cloud drifts in front of the moon and partially obscures it we are offered a multitude of possibilities in terms of how we might experience the scene before us. By introducing the elements of uncertainty and ambiguity our minds are freed to drift to their own inclinations rather than being directed by more overt 'statements' in the art.

 

Kano Natsuo is known to have been a very cultured man, and especially so as he got older. He was evidently very much influenced by Heian period culture so he almost certainly knew the writings of Kenko intimately. As such I think it's safe to say he was well aware of what time would add to his work and I imagine he knew that it would only 'mature' to being 'correct' long after he was gone.

 

We can easily imagine the kozuka newly made, the silver reflections gleaming stark and bright in the misty shibuichi water. But the reality now is that that memory is now overlaid by the effects of time. We could step in and reverse that subtle process and restore the silver to its pristine original appearance, and lose the traces of its life....OR we can hold that memory present and at the same time allow what is to offer its own beauty to us. It's hard to properly see the present beauty though, if we are hankering for the original 'perfect' shiny silver effect.

 

There are countless poems that tell of parted lovers, separated by distance or time, whose power rest precisely in the expression of loss and longing, that melancholy desire....but if somehow those feelings of longing for what is no more were suddenly resolved, the missed partner magically returned, the poem would become mundane and lose all of its content, and power to move us. 

 

Natsuo knew how his moon would change, and become something else. I think he'd be well satisfied with what we now can contemplate. Time had added additional layers of meaning, and through that process perhaps offers hints toward more profound contemplations of our own existence.

[mas4t0]

Wonderful write up Ford. Thank you for sharing your insight.

 

I feel like an organic living thing becomes perfect (or at least works towards it) by living, by growing, adapting and changing. It's developing and becoming more complete, mature and complex as time passes. In that sense, it feels as though a lot of Japanese art really is imbued with a life of its own.

[masakatsu]

.... and a newly escaped Natsuo kozuka from Japan.

 

 

 

[mas4t0]

That's amazing Matt!

 

Thanks for sharing.

[lonely panet]

Ford,

 

Once again you dont just deliver a great and informative post but educate ua all.

 

Thankyou again for the education

 

Regards H

[Blazeaglory]

I love it! Amazingly simple yet beautiful!

[Ken-Hawaii]

This post could serve as an art course!

[Surfson]

Did that one escape by sea Matt?  Gorgeous

[masakatsu]

Did that one escape by sea Matt?  Gorgeous

 

Thank you Robert, really glad you like it.  I have to say, these are both so much better in hand.  You can create a shimmering affect in the water on the moon kozuka with the right lighting, which really gives it another dimension...  like it has come to life.  It's really hard to grasp the combination of skill and vision of Kano Natsuo, and I am hooked to say the least.

[masakatsu]

I have found another very exciting Natsuo piece recently...  it just arrived today, so I don't have many proper pictures to share, but here's a quick sample:

 

First picture to show scale:

 

 

 

And 4 more from the seller:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sketchbook consists of 12 original sketches of small animals and plants by Natsuo with hakogaki by his 3rd son Akio.  The book was created in 1866 and the hakogaki was done in 1920.  Translation follows:

 

Hakogaki

 

家父夏雄壮年作     -   Made by our father Natsuo in his prime age

 

大正九年初冬       -   Taisho 9th year (1920) early winter

 

加納秋雄           -   Kano Akio

 

 

Sketchbook

 

丙寅小春月      -      Yang Fire Tiger Perod (Feb 15 1866 – Feb 4 1867), 10th month (Nov. 1866)

 

夏雄           -      Natsuo

 

 

I will do a follow-up post when I have proper pictures of all 12 sketches, they are fantastic.  Probably my favorite is a sketch of a willow branch and crescent moon.

 

[Tanto54]

Dear Matt,

 

What an awesome find!  That is so cool and perfect sized for a tosogu collector.  Your collection and especially your Natsuo collection is really looking great - congratulations!

[terminus]

Now that's pretty awesome. I'll rather have a Natsuo sketchbook than many tosogu items even! Love how he only does one drawing per 2 pages and uses both and his entire composition. 

[Brian]

Your collection is incredible! World class.

[Pete Klein]

Is the F/K papered to Kano Natsuo?

[masakatsu]

Is the F/K papered to Kano Natsuo?

 

Goto Ichijo

[masakatsu]

Ok, so these aren't the best pictures, but they will do for now...  picture 5 shows a unique aspect of the book, that being the lack of a binding.  The book is constructed almost like an accordion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More interior pics to follow.