Tsuba-kantei

[Markus]

Hi folks,

 

As its quite a time since the last kantei, I would fill the gap and provide you

with a new one. At first, I would just like to give you the pictures, allowing you

to soak in the workmanship and execution of the piece. I am sure there are some

out there which could pin this one down to at least the school at once, so I suggest

to withhold or to use the spoiler function.

 

It measures 8,0 cm in the width, and 8,5 cm in the length. The thickness at the

rim is 0,35 cm.

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Markus,

 

very austere, I assume shakudo?...my first inclination would have to be Ichijo ha. Someone with a Wa in their Go

 

regards,

 

Ford

[Pete Klein]

It's gimei.

[reinhard]

It's gimei.

 

Moses came down and I'm shaking in my shoes.

 

reinhard

[Markus]

It's gimei.

 

Hi Pete,

How´s that quick bid coming?

[Pete Klein]

ROFL!!!

[Markus]

I think I missed some simleys at your first reply.

[John A Stuart]

The only attribution I can come up with is;

ko-Kinko Momoyama period

. John

[Martin]

Hi all,

 

I have also seen this piece in hands and have to admit it is a REAL beauty.

I guess it is very hard to take good pictures of it due to its DEEP black color.

 

Congratulations once again on this one Markus. Good eye !!

 

Cheers,

[Markus]

At the moment, (of course ) Ford is right on, but not atari.

Well, I must confess that with a certain motif showing more techniques,

it is quite hard to pin it down to a certain artist.

 

As my fellow countryman used to say, "I´ll be back".

[Jean]

Tsuba surface quality, irrigular raised mimi, could lead to

 

 

Goto Ichijo

 

[Ford Hallam]

aha! so then I must say Goto Ichijo. I hesitated before because it seemed such a leap but now I'm far more confidant.

[Curran]

Instant thought before reading anyone's reply was Goto Ichijo or one of his near students.

 

Have I seen this tsuba before? There was one at Choshuya a while back, and another elsewhere that looked like Ichijo but I thought was by another signature. Both beyond my wallet.

 

Curran

[reinhard]

The tsuba in question reminds me of one in the Compton collection made of silver.

 

reinhard

[John A Stuart]

Wow, the Tachikanaguchi tsuba really shows I need eye care. I wasn't even aware that those marks on the specimen tsuba were stamps. I was wondering what made that plate identifiable from others. They don't show well in the pics. John

[Markus]

Well, those who tried to participate did, and so I will solve this kantei.

The artist ist Imai Nagatake, and the piece is signed:

Imai Nagatake (今井永武) [kaô] - Ansei kinoto´u chûshû (安政乙卯仲秋, "Ansei, year of the hare [1855], eighth month")

Yes, he was a student of Gotô Ichijô, a passionate waka poet, lived and worked in Kyôto, born 1818 and died 1882.

As it is hard to pin it down to a certain artist with more techniques shown, I will give atari to Ford, Jean, and Curran.

 

Now, how does one come to this artist.

 

First, the raw material: iron, shakudô, suaka, shibuichi, yamagane, brass ... (I´ve tried to get the blueish-black shakudô,

so that it is dinstinguishable from iron) I think everyone got the shakudô, and this precludes before (nearly) all tankô artists.

What remains is (in a chronological manner) Ko-Kinkô (as John said), Gotô and sidelines, followed by the kinkô artists of the

Edo period, the machibori group, and the metalworkers of the late Edo/bakumatsu period.

 

Second, the interpretation: sukashi-tsuba or ita-tsuba

 

Third, the shape: It shows a hardly accentuated mokkô-gata, with a very slight tendency towards aori. This in combination

with the thinness and the ubu nakago-ana pins it relative quickly down to one of the late Edo/bakumatsu kinkô artists,

especially to Gotô Ichijô who was (among others) renowned for such a shape. As Reinhard pointed out, such pieces were

made at the beginning with old Momoyama works in mind, and so is the interpretation of the surface. Hawley mentions an

interesting note, namely that "this artist kept more to the classical style and designs of the early Gotô Ichijô school". This

tsuba is such a piece right out of the textbook.

 

What was at the back of my mind with this kantei was, to present for a change once more a softmetal tsuba, because we

already had some iron and sukashi works in the past. I think it was not that hard to vote for Ichijô or his school, and I must

admit that I am very fond of the shape he and his school (and of course other contemporary artists) applied.

 

As a comparison, I would like to add a picture which was shot under different lightning, with the result that it could be

very easily mixed-up with iron.

 

FYI: I´ve bought this one on the following site: http://japanesesword.de/

Fortunately, I recently had the chance to look at it hands-on, but there is more nice and reasonable prices stuff there

so please take a look.

 

for your interest.

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks Markus, for putting us out of our misery

 

I find it interesting that there is a general conception that this particular aesthetic is a conscious emulation of Momoyama tsuba. Personally, I don't find this convincing at all....I tend to see a completely different impulse at work here, one that fits perfectly with other naturalistic ( in terms of actual metalwork process) expressions in this field. i think the reference to earlier work is misplaced and misses a significant contemporary ( then ) drive.

 

I'd be keen to see a Momoyama tsuba that could serve as a credible model for this piece...

 

In any case, lovely piece of work

 

best regards,

 

Ford

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hi Markus,

 

have enjoyed viewing this tsuba, thank you, and, I must mention, whomever made those plugs, does excellent work.