Tsuba Repair

[Mark Green]

It is still a work of art

[Ford Hallam]

fwiw,

 

I think, based on the colour of the traces remaining, that the inlay was gold not brass.

 

It could all be put back pretty inconspicuously BUT...it would cost more than the tsuba would ultimately ever be worth. Better to try to find one in a better state of condition.

 

I also think this is a late Higo piece myself.

 

regards,

 

ford

[stevel48]

fwiw,

 

I think, based on the colour of the traces remaining, that the inlay was gold not brass.

 

ford

 

 

It could very well be. The metal is very soft Ford.

[stevel48]

it does look like other Higo Namako.

[reinhard]

The concepts of wabi and sabi connote the acceptance of degradation and the beauty to be found in apparent beauty lost.

 

This is the key for understanding some of the finest works of art. Umetada Myoju, Hirata Hikozo, Shimizu Jingo, Nishigaki Kanshiro and others cannot be appreciated without understanding this sentence. Thanks.

 

reinhard

[Ford Hallam]

Reinhard...but you can't make something "wabi/sabi", it can only come, over time, to express this aesthetic. Any artificial attempt to suggest the aesthetic renders it "fake".

 

Personally, I feel very uncertain describing the works of those particular makers as being wabi/sabi in the truest sense of the word. There are certainly aspects of the aesthetic evident but I honestly wonder about the underlying philosophical inspiration. I know well the much mentioned influence of Sen no Rikyu on the early Higo masters work but I still see a divide between his teachings and the expression that is found in their metalwork. I've mentioned this opinion before...so I suppose I ought to do some more reading to see if I can offer a convincing alternative aesthetic "label"

 

You mentioned Umetada Myoju, co-incidentally I'm working on a study of one of his masterpieces right now. In his case I feel most of his work absolutely does not express wabi/sabi at all, but far more explicitly, the exuberance of the Momoyama period, especially the work he did in soft metal.

 

Anyway, just my take on things

 

regards,

 

ford

[reinhard]

Reinhard...but you can't make something "wabi/sabi", it can only come, over time, to express this aesthetic. Any artificial attempt to suggest the aesthetic renders it "fake".

 

You mentioned Umetada Myoju, co-incidentally I'm working on a study of one of his masterpieces right now. In his case I feel most of his work absolutely does not express wabi/sabi at all, but far more explicitly, the exuberance of the Momoyama period, especially the work he did in soft metal.

 

It's not about wabi/sabi. It's about the illusion of wabi/sabi. MYOJU was the grand master of this art. Every chiselmark and every discoloration are intentional.

 

reinhard

[sanjuro]

I must agree with Ford.

 

The aesthetics of wabi - sabi both acknowledge change and the effects of change. They are basically a melancholic response to impermanence and the beauty inherent in something that is less than perfect due to the effects of mere existence over a period of time. Essentially therefore, an artifact such as a tsuba cannot be created with an eye to this aesthetic since change upon a finished piece can only be inflicted by time, use etc. These aesthetics are not in any true sense of the term, creatable by the hand of man.

The above is not however to say that an artisan cannot invoke the 'spirit' of the aesthetic in a piece, he simply cannot create the real thing from his own hand, only an illusion of it. Only time can render a piece truly wabi or sabi.

[Pete Klein]

For anyone interested in pre-Edo fittings I can highly recommend investigating early 'Chanoyu', Japanese Tea Ceremony as it evolved from Joo to Sen no Rikyu to Furuta Oribe. The feudal lords and generals of the 15th & 16th centuries were much involved in this (notably including Nobunaga Oda and Hideyoshi Toyotomi) as they were Noh, poetry, and other art forms and once you begin to understand the mindset the different fittings begin to make sense. For example a Goto set of fittings would be much like Karmono (Chinese tea ware -- perfect and a bit flashy) and perfect for court use as opposed to an iron Owari tsuba, more rustic yet powerful like one of Rikyu's Chojiro Chawan (tea bowls) to be used in one's daily life. I'd just wikipedia it -- there's a lot of info there.

 

PS: Reinhard -- you are most welcome. I am honored!

[reinhard]

Keith & Ford,

 

I agree with you in so far that the "real thing" wabi/sabi cannot be created by man per definitionem. But it was the art of creating the illusion within frames of aesthetic principles and supreme craftsmanship, that has been so highly esteemed ever since. To my limited experience it has always been the "man-made factor" appreciated the most. A tsuba, ragged by time and wear, did not rise great feelings in the hearts of samurai, for it happened just like that by time and wear and was turned into an ugly thing. Creating the illusion of a worn plate AND following aesthetic principles at the same time, on the other hand, was regarded as one of the highest forms of tsuba making. Hayashi MATASHICHI's juyo bunkazai tsuba with broken fan design is a very good example.

 

Eventually I'm kicking open doors here, but just for fun I would like to present another example. It is a tsuba by Nara MASANAGA (signed on the obverse with his Kao). The tsuba is in perfect condition. The plate is supposed to look like an old and worn piece including "fake" print of seppa-dai etc. The inlay depicting a tiger seeking shelter from the rain however is "flawless". - The "worn and discolored"-design of the plate is perfect, much better than any natural aging process could have done. It creates an air of melancholy in contrast to the vital and fresh tiger and bamboo theme.

 

reinhard

[Curran]

Reinhard,

 

It is nice to see this Myoju tsuba. Two days ago I had to look over one of the many gimei tsuba claiming to be in his name. Very precise little tsuba, but not this feel.

 

It is interesting this topic of a Nara tsuba with the "fake" print of the seppa-dai. Is there anything in micro detail that helps empirically illustrate it better? Maybe the way the seppa dai print shifts on the kozuka plug? A nice gent sent me images of a daisho tsuba set the other day and asked me if I thought they were correct. There were a few things about them that made me pause slightly. Some odd detail hammering in the soft metal that might be more 20th century and the tsuba were incredibly "flawless", however many things seemed correct about the execution of the two tsuba.

Both tsuba showed seppa dai usage, but were otherwise very perfect for anything that had seen usage to leave such strong seppa dai marks.

 

I do not mean to sideline the discussion of aesthetics, but would like to hear more about the seppa dai marks.

[Mark Green]

That's a great looking Tsuba Rienhard.

It seems to me that many of the late period 'Shinchu'/Brass' tsuba have this look. The masters, can make the patina look the way they want it to. And being kinda soft they likely ding up very easy, giving the plate a used look.

My favorite is this one. It's like your looking through the morning mist. This one is shibuichi, but you can see how the area outside the seppa area ages.

[reinhard]

Is there anything in micro detail that helps empirically illustrate it better?

 

Curran, I'm not sure what you mean by "micro detail". I beg to excuse my limited skills as a photographer. This is difficult to explain on the basis of pics and words like most topics concerning NihonTo. Examining this tsuba in hand makes it clear at first sight: The surface within and around seppa-dai is almost perfectly even. Discolorations looking like wear by seppa are obviously part of the "worn plate"-design, skillfully added by the artist. Their perfect look surpasses any real wear caused by time.

 

reinhard

[Curran]

Mark,

--Wah! My wife likes that tsuba. Who is the artist?

 

Reinhard,

Your skills at photography are better than mine. Thank you for sharing.

I was just wondering if there was any point along the false seppa shadow where the dark paint or patina of the false shadow gave evidence it was not correct. It would probably take an expanded photo to show this. I thought maybe the plug in the kozuka ana is lower or higher than the plate and it might explain how the shadow skips a bit from the plug to the plate. The seppa shadow seems to be off at the bottom of the eliptical shape.

It is just "thinking aloud" on how this was done and how it is detected. If I looked under a microscope, maybe I could forensically tell. Maybe not.

[Ford Hallam]

Reinhard,

 

with reference to the MASANAGA tsuba you've shown, how can you be certain that the appearance as it is now is exactly as was when it was first made?

 

From my perspective this looks to be perfectly natural wear, tear and ageing. I agree, the area around the seppa-dai looks very odd. This sort of staining looks suspiciously ( to me) as though some-one has used a commercially available touch up patina solution to try to blend in the worn patina where the seppa rested. Certainly, no professional kinko-shi would leave such inept looking marks around the dai like that. I love the pose of the tiger btw...I may steal it for my own use sometime

 

I don't see this as a deliberate artistic contrivance at all, it's just a perfectly aged tsuba that may now be said to exhibit a certain degree of wabi and sabi. Nothing to do with the original artists intentions.

 

I'm sorry to disagree with you, I respect your opinions, but I fear that this could be a very slippery slope. Before long we'll have all sorts of buggered up metalwork being extolled as exemplars of wabi/sabi and I think we ought to far more selective about what we accord such sensitive status.

 

Going back to the Myoju tsuba you posted also, I think that this too has merely suffered ( and I do mean suffered, poor thing. I reckon I could sort it out nicely though ) the effects of time. It's true that there was a strong attraction among the warrior class, of the Momoyama period, to the sombre and understated aesthetic ideals of the tea ceremony but the more exuberant artistic expression of artists such as Tawaraya Sotatsu, a contemporary of his, is clearly where Umetada Muoju drew the inspiration for his loose and lyrical brushed decoration.

 

His avant garde use of his, now characteristic, coloured grounds for his bold brush work inlay must have been quite striking when new and well expressed the vibrancy of the times. I don't think any art historian will ascribe the ideals of wabi/sabi to the decorative painters of that period. That his tsuba have, in many cases, aged well and now exhibit these qualities is something we need to see through to get a glimpse of the true, original artistic urge of the artist.

 

I read recently that Myoju may not have been a supporter of the Tokugawa and thus wasn't part of the "inner circle" of artists serving the shogunate. Was his client base perhaps the newly wealthy Machi-shu (merchant) class? and could this be part of why he diversified into tsuba production, no orders for swords. Just speculations.... but worth considering, I think

respectfully,

 

ford

[Mark Green]

Curran,, That one is by 'Okayama Chikon/Tomoyasu' Bizen school, edo 19c

From the BMA 11.11697&8

Very nice.

[reinhard]

Reinhard,

with reference to the MASANAGA tsuba you've shown, how can you be certain that the appearance as it is now is exactly as was when it was first made?

 

Because it is part of my collection and I had a lot of time to study its workmanship in hand. Again, the pic alone is by no means good enough to make any valid statement about "micro detail".

 

I don't see this as a deliberate artistic contrivance at all it's just a perfectly aged tsuba. Nothing to do with the original artists intentions.

 

Tiger, rock and bamboo don't show signs of wear. How comes?

 

I'm sorry to disagree with you, I respect your opinions, but I fear that this could be a very slippery slope. Before long we'll have all sorts of buggered up metalwork being extolled as exemplars of wabi/sabi and I think we ought to far more selective about what we accord such sensitive status.

 

I agree with you as far as the "buggered up metalwork" is concerned, but I disagree with your conception of natural/artificial ageing when it comes to some of the greatest tsuba of all. Umetada MYOJU made more than one of his masterpieces in this style of artificial ageing (including false seppa prints BTW). In Nihon To Taikan two great examples are depicted. Seing tsuba like these in hand, it is obvious that they were made like this on purpose and the effect is just breathtaking. First generations of Shimizu Jingo, Hirata Hikozo or Tsuchiya Yasuchika provide us with many great examples. I don't want to argue on the basis of "believe". I remember disagreement earlier on this forum (tsuba attributed to Miyamoto Musashi,remember?), but you can't convince me in this field. Nevertheless I do respect your skills and knowledge, of course.

 

best regards

 

reinhard

[John A Stuart]

I would like to comment on the aspect of wabi sabi as it relates to chanoyu. In the tea ceremony the emphasis is on relaxation with economy of motion and simplicity. So why is this so hard to perfect? Simply, because to have the fluidity of technique under fairly rigid ritual requires many hours of practice before it can be achieved in a natural and relaxed way. This is found in the chawan of the great master potters as well. The glazes used and how they are applied to create the wabi sabi effect is contrived and requires a deft touch, otherwise you have a static uninspired creation. Part of the ceremony involves appreciation of the chawan, among other things, in a contemplative manner. In this I would illustrate Bizen-yaki for one example of wabi sabi type ware. It doesn't always achieve this goal. In one firing there may be one or two pieces that are above average. Meaning to me that when contrivance exceeds the naturalness of decay it becomes namimono, an ordinary teacup. I have much to learn in this respect and these are just my novice thoughts. I would love to hear others thoughts on this. It seems to me to be an essential in understanding tousogu. John

[Aloof Pegasus]

Hi John

 

I'm wondering if the honest wear from the whisk that you might see in an old Raku bowl is another example of what you are thinking about, I'm talking about the speckled effect where the glaze has worn away through years of usage aided by the agi- the 'flavour" of the tea residue.

 

Surely the point here is that the wear is from actual use. I don't know of any potters who contrived the look, or are you thinking of the bubble effect around the inside of the koudai inside the bowl?

That is deliberate as you know and a sign of a good bowl.

 

For myself I don't really like Bizen-ware principally because of it's monotony and because even with very expensive pieces for some reason, especially with the pinks and red glazes the effect is strangely monochromatic- even plastic looking sometimes.

 

In terms of chawan the imperfection is deliberate in the shape not the finish wouldn't you agree? The glaze is the accidental thing .

 

Philip

[John A Stuart]

Hi Philip, In this case I am talking about the effect the potter is making consciously. You bring up a good point in your description of Bizen-yaki a type of yakishime pottery. This type of glaze is changed during firing by the ash found within the kiln itself and is called yohen. This ash creates a natural glaze of blues, browns and reds. The gomi found on Bizen-yaki has many forms as well with the ash forming organic yellow patterns. The potter has less control over the final result and is more natural than say, Ohi ware with it’s ame-yu. This is to me the difference I’m talking about, contrived over glazes as opposed to naturally forming glazes that exhibit true wabi sabi. This is true with tousogu artists as well. Creating a piece to mimic the ravages of time is contrivance, however creating a piece with the thought of it’s aging naturally to the glow of timeless decay is wabi sabi. Which would evoke the sadness of beauty enduring despite it’s loss; the artificial or the natural? I know my choice. John

[Aloof Pegasus]

Hi John

 

Just for the record I was down in Izu this holiday weekend at an onsen in Amagisou. They have an arrangement with a nearby kiln for guests to try their hand. The kiln owner glazes and fires it and sends it on to your address. He studied in Bizen so you would like his pieces. I have to say after this experience my respect for all all potters no matter how humble increased a hundred-fold. My 'chawan' looked like something you might find in a dog park. The owners wife very kindly promised to arrange an 'accident' in the kiln and to send me something different.

 

Philip

[Ford Hallam]

Reinhard,

 

you're quite right, I doubt I'll be able to convince you on this one

 

I do have to ask the obvious question though; If Umetada Myoju ( for example ) made his tsuba, about 400 years ago, with this look of age etc, as you maintain, how then have they survived for 400 years without any natural ageing?...or does it slowly replace the original, artificial effect. If we allow for some natural ageing then how do we separate the natural from the artificial given that you maintain the original artificial aged look was so skilfully done?

Seems to me Occam's razor solves this dilemma ie, the simplest explanation, that requires the fewest assumptions, is most likely correct.

 

I am aware of the various, quite obvious, tsuba that do try to evoke an aged, or antique look but those seem to me to very different techniques. Matashichi's brocken fans tsuba relies on the design to evoke an aged look or do you mean he meant to suggest the fans actually had worn away on the tsuba?

 

 

 

Incidentally, the Umetada family apparently begun using a process called "suri hagashi", sometime in the 18th century, which is essentially a gilt finish that has been artificially worn through to simulate exactly an antique look. Mitsuoki Otsuki used this effect also but this is quite different from the degree of contrivance you appear to believe was carried out.

 

With reference to your Masanaga tsuba it seems to me that the wear on the shakudo leaves is very clear. Notice how some of the engraved lines depicting veins have completely worn away. The tiger also, is quite worn. The kata-kiri is no longer crisp at all and I can't see any of the typical fine marks that usually indicate the fur.

 

I don't know if this theory regarding artificial ageing is your own or something you've been taught in Japan but I genuinely feel it's a precarious concept at best.

 

Still, we can agree to disagree :D ...I just wanted to offer an alternative view, as I so often do

 

regards,

 

ford

[John A Stuart]

What a gret expeience!! Did you learn something that isn't normally in the literature? John

[Aloof Pegasus]

Only that the koudai is done separately on the succeding day once the pot has had a chance to dry. Til then the underside of the chawan looks like the base of a chaire with the marks from the string used to remove it from the table mat. The second day is also when the shaping of the base is done.

 

Philip

[reinhard]

I do have to ask the obvious question though; If Umetada Myoju ( for example ) made his tsuba, about 400 years ago, with this look of age etc, as you maintain, how then have they survived for 400 years without any natural ageing?

 

As works of MYOJU they were treasured from the very beginning and not carried through wind and rain.

 

Matashichi's brocken fans tsuba relies on the design to evoke an aged look or do you mean he meant to suggest the fans actually had worn away on the tsuba?

 

I think MATASHICHI's famous tsuba is a "multi-layered"-approach to the concept of wabi/sabi. First it is expressed by the subject of broken fans, which is part of a "worn-brocade"-design; assembled on a surface, which is modelled after weathered stones and the whole thing is meant to look like after a long time of wear. It is a picture-puzzle.

 

I don't know if this theory regarding artificial ageing is your own or something you've been taught in Japan but I genuinely feel it's a precarious concept at best.

 

Don't worry. Although a little senile by now (age 47), I'm still able to draw my own conclusions.

 

Still, we can agree to disagree :D ...I just wanted to offer an alternative view, as I so often do

 

It's always a pleasure to argue with you. If it's OK for you, we can leave it at that for the moment, for this subject will pop up again for sure and I don't want this thread to become a matter of supremacy over interpretation. BTW, you are invited to see the MASANAGA tsuba for real whenever possible. My pic definitely failed.

 

reinhard

[Ford Hallam]

always a pleasure, Reinhard

 

regards,

 

ford ( an equally infirm 47)

[Brian]

I wish others would take note of the way you 2 disagree

That is how you debate something and yet stay polite, civil, and above all else educational. Thanks both, I am taking in a lot of new info, and am learning to look at things in a different way.

Reinhard, isn't it time you got some sun and took a vacation to SA?

 

Brian

[reinhard]

Reinhard, isn't it time you got some sun and took a vacation to SA?

 

I would love to, Brian. I read about marauding baboons in Capetown in yesterdays newspaper (true!) and I really would like to say hello to my kin. Unfortunally my job binds me to boring and civilized Northern hemisphere during winter. Nevertheless I'm looking forward to meet you Southern guys next year.

 

best regards

 

reinhard

[Ford Hallam]

I read about marauding baboons in Cape Town in yesterdays newspaper

 

yes...they're rugby fans, generally harmless unless you try to take their beer away