Namban style Tsuba with Christian Orb and Crosses

[roger dundas]

This Namban style tsuba was purchased very recently from NMB 'For Sale' page for the skill shown in its making and the price was better than fair to my mind.

But when examining it closely there appeared 3 small crosses on either side. Being not particularly interested in the 'Christian cross' genre I looked to see what the internet could tell me under "Christian Cross tsuba discussion". Here there appeared a tsuba for sale under 'Antiques by the Sea' 2020 which is pretty much identical except my version is a little smaller at 7 by 6.8 and the gold overlay shows a fair degree of wear/loss where the other is larger at 7.5 by 7.1 and with most of its gold still there.

Mandarin Mansion also has a near identical tsuba for sale/sold (could it be the same one ?). Both sites refer to one similar but of minor quality in the V&A museum, London Accession No.m194-193.

Both Mandarin Mansion and Antiques by the sea say amongst other things : ....Canton style...Typical Chinese design but likely Japanese made for Japanese use ? C 1700s.-  A Namban Tsuba with Christian Orb (and crosses).

Roger j

[Bugyotsuji]

Nice example, and yup, I reckon you have it covered there. It is said that the traditional 宝珠 Hoju dragon ball which the two dragons endlessly pursue, was gently turned into a Christian orb symbol in the hope that the wrong people would not look too closely.

There was already enough crossover to make things suitably ambiguous.

https://www.google.com/search?q=宝珠&oq=宝珠&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7j0i4i37j0.20301j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[roger dundas]

Once again, thanks Piers for your input- really encouraging to get your take on things and knowledge.

In the past I might have posted a tsuba for comment and nothing came forward, no comment at all, which puzzled me until I realized that it probably wasn't worth commenting on !  

Roger j

[Brian]

I agree with Piers on this one. Very possible indeed.

[Geraint]

Dear Roger.

 

I'm sure you know this one but just in case.  A great deal of information and discussion on Namban guards here, https://www.facebook.com/Asian-Export-sword-guards-and-Nanban-tsuba-564035753684007/

 

All the best

[roger dundas]

Thanks for that Geraint.

Roger j.

[roger dundas]

Yesterday, following up the similar tsuba 'of minor quality' in London's V&A Museum collection - it appears identical with my example but with gilding in good order (and larger sized, similar to the 'Antiques by the Sea' tsuba).

Also (today), in Grev Cooke's book - "The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Tsuba Collection V2", there also are two near identical examples on pages 71 and 72, both again larger than my example but similar to the 'Antiques by the Sea' tsuba except for the gilding- which differs both in original coverage plus later wear and tear.

The whole lot appear to me to have been made by the same hand.

All have the Christian Orb plus little crosses. A 'covert' identification maybe, but if so why would you do it if it endangered your life ?

And thank you also Brian for your interest.

Roger j.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

17 minutes ago, roger dundas said:

A 'covert' identification maybe, but if so why would you do it if it endangered your life ?

A good question, Roger, with many possible answers. Recently I have been thinking that there may have been at least two facets to this, an earlier and a later stage. 

 

One, establishing that Christianity somehow fits into established background traditions, during a time of proselytizing.

Two, later, on the backfoot under persecution, furtively revealed to fellow converts to establish fraternity/credibility. if ever it became too dangerous, as you say, then said tsuba might well have been removed from the blade and hidden somewhere.

[JohnTo]

Hi Roger,

I also have a tsuba which I think may have Christian symbolism.  It is an iron round sukashi tsuba depicting horse riding equipment (saddle, bit and whip) and a bird (karigane) linking the whip to the rim. The tsuba is signed Hidemitsu (possibly Shumitsu), but the artist is not referenced in any of the common books.  However, Hidemitsu (same kanji) is listed as the craftsman name of Tomomichi (civilian name Wakayama Hanzo) while he worked under Omori Terumasa.  He eventually studied under Someya Tomonobu, from whom he received the kanji for ‘Tomo’ and so would probably have been working in the Busei era (1818-1830).  ).  [Japanese Toso-kinko Schools, M Sesko, p226]  However, it should be noted that the Someya School were primarily kinko artists and so the Hidemitsu who made this tsuba may be another craftsman, although many artists worked in a variety of metals.  The style and subject matter seems to be similar to tsuba produced by the Bushu School, or possibly the Echizen Kinai, or Choshu schools around 1800.

A smaller (6.6 cm dia) tsuba of similar design is to be found in the Collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Accession number: 13.2167), and a picture of this is included.  The Boston example shows the complete horse bit (both rings to attach reins and the linking bit for the horse’s mouth), whereas my tsuba only shows the link at the top of the tsuba and just one of the rings at the bottom with the seppa-dai separating the two parts.  I think that this was probably deliberate so that the ring acts as both a depiction of the Shimadzu kamon and a Christian cross (I gather that the Shimadzu clan had a large number of Christians).

Height: 7.4 cm; Width: 7.0 cm; Thickness: 0.5 cm; Weight: 66 g

Best regards, John

(Just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

[roger dundas]

Thanks once again for your interest and thoughts Piers- what you say fits the bill and makes sense.

John your examples are quite 'overt' but could be explained away as a genuine part of the subject design - is that it ? Christian crosses but part of the design .

Thanks again Piers and John.

Roger j.

[roger dundas]

Here we go again:    I hadn't intended to go further with the above but looking at and enjoying the V&A, London Museum's tsuba on line again today I noted two more Namban tsuba similar to the above and both with the Christian Orbs with a cross above, one of them with the extra crosses as well.

 

The interesting thing to me was what unites them all (as well as the orbs and crosses) is that the seppa-dai on all of them is the same (maybe an exception in Grev's Birmingham museum collection).

 I am a little uncertain- my eyesight is not too good. 

 

V&A  Accession numbers;  M.772-1931 page 60 of online display;  also M.764-1931 page 59 (also as noted above M.194-1916 page 51).

Hope someone is interested.

By the way John, there are a few tsuba similar to yours (above) in the V&A display but you probably knew that already?

Roger 2

[Bruce Pennington]

Here's one from a Guns.ru Thread.  The post was actually exploring the meaning of the overlapping sakura, as maybe a mon.

 

[roger dundas]

Nothing covert/secretive about that one Bruce so it would be pre 'prohibition' one would think? 

I like it.

Roger j

[GRC]

Speaking of "overt" symbols, here's one from the resurrected "Heianjo damage" post:

It's from Richard George's RKG collection... he always seems to have just the right image for every occasion lol 

To me, this looks like the symbol of an actual church!

 

 

[GRC]

By the way, I was just reading somewhere (the source escapes me now arg...) that a lot of the early Nanban tsuba had some christian motifs & symbols among the designs, but that a lot of them were destroyed once the practice of christianity was banned in most areas of Japan, when Japan went into their period of isolationism.

[Bugyotsuji]

Looking from the perspective of the Tsuba smith… from the sales angle, surely he would be aware of what sells and what doesn’t and would include subtle motif designs that he could point out to the customer as indicating (with a little imagination) a, b or c.

(Special orders apart.)

[rkg]

On 11/9/2021 at 11:01 AM, GRC said:

Speaking of "overt" symbols, here's one from the resurrected "Heianjo damage" post:

It's from Richard George's RKG collection... he always seems to have just the right image for every occasion lol 

To me, this looks like the symbol of an actual church!

 

 

 

Glen,

Just to be clear This isn't my piece (I wish it was).  I shot it for somebody else and was given permission to show the images for discussion purposes. 

 

Because of the pretty overt Christian symbol its an amazing study piece because you -know- it wasn't mounted after about 1637 (unless one had a death wish).  Note that there was a fair amount of missing inlay, even from un-corroded/un-worn  surfaces on it.  We'll probably never know if it was a fashion/wabi sabi thing, the owner yanked the bits that were tearing at clothing, or what.

 

Best,

rkg

(Richard George)

 

[roger dundas]

Re 'rkg' above -" This isn't my piece (I wish it was)"-   Me too.. And another great photograph !

Roger j

[Grey Doffin]

Another one quite similar to the 1st posted.

Grey

[MauroP]

Just found this on https://www.samurai-nippon.net/SHOP/T-940.html

The highlighted part of the NBTHK kanteisho reads:
十字架銀据付(後補) - jūjika gin-suetsuke (goho)
and should mean something like: Christian cross piece in silver (later addition).
If my understanding is correct, some interesting inferences could be drawn.
1 - the theme of dragons chasing the sacred pearl had some special meaning for early Japanese Christianity;
2 - NBTHK shinsa panel sometimes certify as authentic a modified (forged?) tsuba.
I'm quite perplexed about both conclusions (but I know nothing).
Bye, Mauro

[Bugyotsuji]

The Tsuba looks original, Mauro, and the paperwork although clear about the subsequent addition of the cross, does not suggest how much later the work was done. 
At a slight angle, and with a Ken blade at the top, it looks to be made of silver. An interesting object, surely, whichever way you cut the cake.

[Bugyotsuji]

PS Although Namban Tsuba are generally not too highly rated in Japan, IMHO, there are some fantastic examples out there. I must confess to having a few unusual ones hidden in the back of a dark drawer.
The possible religious element is romantic, true, but surely of secondary importance.

[Brian]

I think that cross was just "plonked" there muuuuuch later to enhance the value. No sign it was period done. And looks out of place. Someone being diplomatic by saying "later done"?

[Bugyotsuji]

Brian, you could be right. Nice escape wording. That angle on the cross just looks plain wrong.