Heianjo Insect?

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

Happy Sunday everyone

 

I was watching this auction on Jauce, but of course, bidding got out of my range for the piece.

The seller states that this is a heianjo insect tsuba, I cant read Japanese yet, whats your take on what the papers say?

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

I am especially curious about this one as I have another Tsuba with the same suzumushi (but in better shape I think)

[Shugyosha]

Hi Jesse,

 

Quick and dirty:

 

Tomoe (comma) sukashi, autumn insect design tsuba, unsigned, Heianjo Zogan, maru mimi, iron ground, kage (negative silhoutte) sukashi, inlay, dote mimi.

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

Thanks John!  In your experience, is any application of the gold metal to a iron tsuba "heianjo"?  

Same type of metal application below, and I know this one is heianjo

[Geraint]

Dear Jesse.

 

Just to start you on your enquiries regarding brass inlay.  https://www.shibuiswords.com/tsuba.htm#heianjo

 

All the best.

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

Thanks @Geraint - does seem that the brass overlay is characteristic, regardless of theme!

[Shugyosha]

Hi Jesse,

No, there are a number of different ways of applying gold (or gold coloured metal) to an iron ground. Onin and Heianjo zohan tsuba can be similar but normally Onin tsuba have a pattern in brass studs rather than, say, a realistic depiction of insects or vines.

 

The others that spring to mind are Kaga zogan and nunome if you want Google those for examples. I’m sure there are more and that someone will chip in with others. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Kaga zōgan is instantly recognizable, lying smoothly flat with the surrounding surfaces.

[Geraint]

Dear Jesse.

 

Given John's translation, (and if that's quick and dirty one can only imagine subtle and refined), then I am coming to the conclusion that we should place weight on the description as Heianjo zogan, in other words a description of technique rather than a school attrubution.  I am just getting to grips with Tsuba Shusei and the Onin section has a variety of brass inlay designs whereas the Heianjo section has sukashi tsuba without any inlay at all.  It's an older text now but if you read on a bit in the link I sent you will see that it refers to the overlap between Heianjo and Kyo sukashi tsuba, suggesting that Heianjo workers were prone to work either in sukashi or the brass inlay that we are talking about.  There is also the possibility for the tsuba you posted that someone inlayed the insect onto a plate from another source.  

 

Complicated isn't it?  I'm only just getting to grips with this so others will have more to add/correct no doubt.  (indeed Piers already has.)

 

All the best.

[GRC]

Geraint, there seem to be a lot of older references to "Heianjo sukashi" but no one seems to be identifying them as such these days.

Frankly, I don't know what these look like or what their range of sukashi styles were.

So I bet there are lots of older sukashi tsuba that are just being named as some other school, but they were actually produced by the Heianjo school.

It's almost as though the label was too difficult to apply so it was just abandoned at some point 

 

and John, Onin can be separated into two categories of inlay: one that has the ten-zogan dots, with or without some simple outlined sukashi elements, OR the category that looks much more like the Heianjo style of inlay.

Varshavsky has some great examples on his site: Ōnin tsuba | Varshavsky Collection

Although, as you point out, the Onin never seemed to do the ultra-realistic inlays like that insect.  

[Geraint]

Dear Glen.

 

As you say I struggle to find any current reference to Heianjo sukashi and is the link I posted has any value then it seems to be very difficult to determin which is Heianjo and which Kyo sukashi.  I have had a sukashi tsuba for years and never found a satisfactory school to pin it to which is what cued me up to Heinajo sukashi when I found an identical example in Tsuba Shusei.  Of course it's hard to look at black and white images and see the subtleties so it may well be a case of similar desing, different school.  However I would agree that a lot of tsuba that are currently slotted into other schools might indeed be Heianjo sukashi.  The link I posted seems to suggest that all three, Onin, Heianjo and Kyo sukashi are interconnected, Onin prdating teh others which then merge.  Complicated isn't it?

 

All the best.