Yokoya Somin Torigoye Hakogaki

[Surfson]

Hi All.  With a rush of blood to the head, I bought this kojiri with botan shishi (shishi dog with peony, a classic theme).  It purports to have a hakogaki by Torigoye (which looks possibly ok to my untrained eye).   It' mumei without any papers.  I can pick out a few statements in the hakogaki, such as Showa 46 (1972?), Den Yokoya Somin, Kojiri (on top right?) and Mumei.  Any help you can provide with the rest would be greatly appreciated, including opinions on whether it is likely to be Somin work, and the veracity of the hakogaki.  

[Rivkin]

....

.....

Thy shall not overbid mine.

[Surfson]

Hi Kirill, is that your translation or were we actually bidding against each other on this?  So sorry if so.  

[Curran]

I suspect he was bidding against you.

 

I broke my "don't bother with Yahoo!Japan" rule this morning and bid on an unsigned Hazama of a design I like.

Thought I had it, and then someone outbid me.  I think I raised my bid about 15 times and there were no other bids or bidders than mine, but I never got above the Nuke Bid.

All I did was drive it up several hundred $$$ on the winner, who also seemed to be using a proxy service. Westerner vs other non Japanese bidder.

     If it was you... sorry about driving up the price. Congrats. Kirill probably feels the same. Lots of NMB people bidding on Yahoo!Japan these days.

 

 

[SteveM]

Hello Bob, yes, it is a Torigoye hakogaki, using his art name "Sarō" (在耶).

 

The kojiri is attributed to 2nd generation Sōmin, Tomotsugu (友次). He doesn't say "den", its 右横谷宗珉友次ト鑑 (The piece herein is appraised as Yokoya Sōmin Tomotsugu). 

He also gives dimensions, theme, date of writing. Shōwa 46 is correct, but it corresponds to 1971. I think its 壱月 (January). 

 

Steve

 

 

[Surfson]

Thank you Steve!  Not only are you generous with your help, but you have gotten so amazingly good at it!  Any opinion about the work itself and Torigoye's appraisal? 

[Surfson]

Curran, I saw that Hazama - a real beauty, though I didn't bid.  A kiku design as I recall.  Sorry you missed it.

[SteveM]

Both the kojiri and the hakogaki look good to me. I was referencing this site here, which shows the same red stamps that are on your hakogaki:

http://www.shibuiswords.com/KazutaroTorigoye.html

 

I can't get the one kanji before 銅地 (copper). It kind of looks like 鎚, but I feel it is different - its relating to the metal/technique, but I can't get it.

鋳銅地, maybe, but this piece isn't caste bronze/copper.

[kyushukairu]

Lovely piece, Bob. I seen it in hand a couple of months ago, and would agree that it is Yokoya work. I think the seller obtained it from a collector in Hiroshima - at least it was among a huge collection which had just been purchased from Hiroshima when I saw it. From what I recall, the kojiri is made from silver, so the first character in the second line is most likely 銀. I agree with Steve, that the succeeding characters are 銅地, so perhaps the reading is 銀・銅地, to suggest that the appraiser is uncertain if it’s made from silver or silver and copper (i.e. shibuichi).

[Bugyotsuji]

https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=銀　草書&fir=Ic7M0CVG4q0r9M%2CImFSlrXwgbdFsM%2C_%3BOC2kfxdHkzYZIM%2C6QY3X-Ck7VHSrM%2C_%3BD6ejZ-RLOoFzCM%2CImFSlrXwgbdFsM%2C_%3B2oF4FAiN7A1HFM%2CWsGFzZx1vvD8iM%2C_%3B9pGX0Hh-i8uT9M%2C_8wo0Hz7v58VeM%2C_%3BVNKZzwUcc4G6gM%2CWsGFzZx1vvD8iM%2C_%3BEdFWCj1Ynb_mPM%2CdBKnBAGJKVT6yM%2C_%3BSj1PJUfj3k-dtM%2C8LRraeoWjrH-eM%2C_%3BY3eCzWchiQoOkM%2CdJ18DmHQT3snOM%2C_%3BdQ2JpTRxPjP36M%2CMUJxXJ4N9I4rnM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kSLRysvYVqmaCfDU2IQDP-C7YVgaQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiomq_M2vb0AhUPPXAKHcjcA6IQjJkEegQIAhAC&biw=1366&bih=625&dpr=1

 

銀 seems reasonable.

[Surfson]

You guys make a fantastic team!  Thank you so much.  I am feeling better about the purchase now, especially hearing that it came out of a large collection and Kyle's view of the work.  Can't wait to see it in hand.  

[Ian B3HR2UH]

Hi Bob , this piece was in Dr Torigoye's book Toso Soran . I haven't compared the pictures side by side but thought you would be interested to see it .Your picture is much better ! It is a lovely piece.

Ian Brooks

[Surfson]

Wow Ian, great find!!    Did you just remember that?   I am amazed.   I guess I need to get a copy of that book!

[Surfson]

This is the closest angle to the one in the book Ian.  I think that the back side makes the shishi claws look different, but it looks right.  

[Ian B3HR2UH]

I wish that I could claim that it was my photographic memory Bob but it wasn't . Toso Soran has photos of a lot of pieces from private collections so I thought it worth having a look in given the hakogaki. The T indicates that it was in the collection of Tanaka Kunichiro . I have a second copy of Toso Soran so will send you a PM .

Ian Brooks

[Surfson]

Thanks again Ian.  I will have to see what I can find out about Tanaka Kunichiro now.  Cheers, Bob

[SteveM]

Further to this, I have been studying Torigoye hakogaki for the past couple of weeks, and I discovered that Torigoye for pieces he rated highly, he signed with one stroke to the right of his kao. For pieces he though were not of the highest caliber, he signed with two strokes to the right of his kao. 

 

This piece has a kao with one stroke, which means he must have though very highly of it. 

 

I also note for future reference, for some reason he writes zōgan as 象眼 (instead of the more orthodox 象嵌). 

 

If anyone has any boxes with Torigoye hakogaki on them, I'm keen to take a look if they haven't yet appeared here on NMB.