keshikomi zôgan 消込象嵌

[Rich T]

Dear all, I am wondering what the opinions of the members here are on this. In reading through Sôken Kodôgu Yôgo to Meishô no Kaisetsu (A Harvey) it states that

 

  Quote

Some of the most mi­nute, detailed and delicate patterned inlays are made by this method, such as those of Kaga and those of Kiyosada of Sendai, and others. It is, indeed, astonishing that, in an era before the microscope, designs and patterns with such fine lines, with such minute details, could have been inlaid in such very fine detail by this procedure, In addi­tion, if the ground be incised somewhat deeply and gold keshi-komi inlay be repeatedly applied to build up the thickness of the inlay, the object can then be immersed in a bath of nitric acid which, leaving the gold untouched, will eat away the ground evenly, thus leaving the gold keshiire inlay standing out in high relief. After suitable carving and engraving, this high relief inlay achieves the same effect as suemon zo-gan. Many tsuba lovers do not approve, on principle, this practical application of chemistry to art, holding that it is offensive to art, scientifically clever but artificial, and therefore not true art-work. One is prone to admire the care­ful assidious work of the true inlay artist and to look with less favor on an effect that was achieved by a skillful sci-' entic trick.

 

In recent times, I have acquired a strong interest in particularly early but also all mainline Gotô works, and as a result, schools of similar style and influence. The Yoshioka group fall well into that category.

 

Presented here is a fuchi kashira signed Yoshioka Inabanosuke 吉岡 因幡介. The surface is Shakudo mikagi ji (赤銅磨地) or a polished shakudo finish. The colour is a deep black and as fine as any Gotô work of that time. The design is carved in kibori (毛彫) and the gold treatment is Kin keshikomi zôgan (金消込象嵌).

 

What are the opinions of members on this idea that "Many tsuba lovers do not approve, on principle, this practical application of chemistry to art, holding that it is offensive to art" I find this a curious thought since even a primary base such as Shakudô is exactly the same thing and quality shakudô is held in the highest regard.

 

Cheers

 

Rich

[Ted Tenold]

Now that's a nice set of fuchi kashira! Lovely....

 

If I understand the nature of your question correctly then;

 

I think the "intent" is the major hinge point to determining the nature of the work. So much of the arts rely on chemicals in both composition and treatment to achieve a desired end, that saying some are okay and others not depends largely on whether the artist is trying to manipulate, or circumvent a process for the purposes of deception or just churning out work. In and of itself, if chemicals are used as a methodology and technique within personal styles or traditions, then the results are all that really matters. If the work is nice, then great. If it's crap, then it's a poor process regardless of the technique. But between schools and makers, turning a blind eye to one while pointing finges at another maker because they used chemicals is very hypocritical. I'd also add that there's no free lunch. The folks doing excellent work using chemicals have a wide range of differing concerns and must have the skillset to control and acheive success in their works that inlay technicians may not. Again, if the work is very skillfully applied and the result is nice, then it's a successful technique. One could argue the *longevity* of one piece over the other because of the technique, but again this is largely dependant on the skills of the craftsman. I've seen inlays that were poorly done and thus there were losses to the work. Therefore, it wasn't better work just because it was mechanically attached.

[SSt]

The writer seems to be a pedant who does not appreciate this particular method because it falls outside the little box he has decided that all "true inlay" is contained in? Did he consider that if the ground that is to be eaten away by the "nitric acid" was in any way impure then it would not have eaten away evenly? How in an age when "chemistry" included such arcane items as; finely minced daikon, rat faeces, wood ash and charcoal, to name but a few, were the artists able to produce such well blended alloys, such beautiful and long lasting patinas?

Or that the gold was usually from smelted coins, the "gold" coins having been debased and adulterated by the cash strapped Bakafu government. It still amazes me that they were able to produce the wonders we appreciate today, I believe that all of the techniques that were used are equally valid, its inexcusable to attempt to discount any of them. "skillful scientific trick" indeed!

 

Regarding the F-K;

I find that the horse staring out from the lower area of the kashira looks clumsy; the head, chest, and forelegs seem out of balance with the overall composition? It lacks the graceful neck of the other three, looks more like the neck of an ox, way too thick and strong!

But, then again what do I know, it's all in the eye of the beholder.

[IanB]

What an interesting thread. What is the patination of shakudo, or the gilding of copper, if its not chemistry? These artist / craftsmen used chemistry all the time to achieve the effect they wanted; including the use of mixtures that might included reagents from organic sources. They would have used four week old marmalade sandwiches if it produced the effect they wanted. As I understand the technique being described, the artist engraves the base and then fills the grooves with mercury / gold amalgam. After driving off the mercury, the then partially filled groove is topped up again and the process repeated until the gold is flush with the surface of the ground. He then etches back the ground to leave the gold slightly proud. How clever and how laborious.

As for the horses, remember that the Tensho mission to Europe brought horses from India to improve the native stock and that Tokugawa Yoshimune asked for, and received, five western horses from the VOC to improve the Japanese stock. The resulting hybrids may well have been a little oddly shaped until the program had achieved its full potential.

Ian Bottomley

[John A Stuart]

The use of chemicals as an artistic tool should be accepted when the technique produces a result that is perceived as truly positive and artful. By that I mean achieving something new and desirable and not to simulate a process otherwise used, like a short cut in fakery. Like others have mentioned chemicals are traditionally used for patinas etc. and metallurgy must be considered as a chemical process anyway. The fact is using chemicals derived from nature predates metallurgy in ancient alchemical processes. Ocher and charcoal etc. used in cave drawings for instance, not to mention in primitive medicine and its' connection to spiritual healing. Certain pigments and their recipes were closely guarded secrets in their day and still not able to be reproduced, even now. To top off my opinion, there is a definite correlation between science and art and the two are intertwined like the staff and snake on the caduceus. John

[Rich T]

Some interesting thoughts here. I am enjoying the read. In regards to the shape of the horse on the fuchi, I see it as being viewed from above, or over the top, thus the reason for the different shape. In art this is called foreshortening, and it is an odd thing that while is correct, can look strange at times. It's a bit hard to explain. What it is though, is difficult to achieve and requires great skill in art.

 

It also may be a 'gestural drawing' which basically is trying to express movement with single lines.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_(graphical)

 

just some food for thought.

 

Cheers

 

Rich

[Pete Klein]

Just a note -- the horses of the time in Japan were shorter and squatter than what we are accustomed to seeing today. Here's an example of menuki from about the same period:

 

[shan]

The type was the small Kiso horse, named after the area through which the Kiso River runs, from Nagano prefecture through Gifu and into Ise Bay west of Nagoya city in Aichi prefecture.

While the small Kiso horse is indigenous to the Japanese archipelago, larger horses used for riding and warfare were imported from Korea. Korean horses were introduced around the middle of the Kofun period, and were never very large.

It would seem that the earlier Kiso horse decreased in number before the introduction of the continental/peninsular horses.It may be that this is a "celebration" of the indiginous Japanese horse that we westerners would call a "Pony".

I have seen many depictions of horses and all appear to be "Ponies" as opposed to true "horses" but due to stature limitations one persons "pony" may be another persons "Horse".

[John A Stuart]

Shan, the Kiso horse although one of the earlier breeds to arrive in Japan 800-900 ce was from the mainland. See, the Horse Rider Theory by Egami on Japanese colonisation. There was no indigenous horse in Japan. John

[Bazza]

  shan said:

The type was the small Kiso horse, named after the area through which the Kiso River runs, from Nagano prefecture through Gifu and into Ise Bay west of Nagoya city in Aichi prefecture.

While the small Kiso horse is indigenous to the Japanese archipelago, larger horses used for riding and warfare were imported from Korea. Korean horses were introduced around the middle of the Kofun period, and were never very large.

It would seem that the earlier Kiso horse decreased in number before the introduction of the continental/peninsular horses.It may be that this is a "celebration" of the indiginous Japanese horse that we westerners would call a "Pony".

I have seen many depictions of horses and all appear to be "Ponies" as opposed to true "horses" but due to stature limitations one persons "pony" may be another persons "Horse".

Before I get to the business of the day (good grief, it's 12.45pm already!!), with regard to the "small horse" I recall seeing two suits of armour here in Oz that a dealer had imported from Japan. They truly looked like child's armour!! So, apart from giants such as Yoshitsune's companion Benkei, it might appear that the average samurai of the day was well-suited (pun??!!) to his horse.

Regards,

Barry Thomas.

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

  Quote

There was no indigenous horse in Japan. John

 

I must desagree, horses are in Japan since Jomon. horse bones are founded and carbon-14 tested.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Jacques, You are so definite. In historical circles the question is still up for debate. Here is an excerpt from Nagaeyari's blog.

 

Horses in Japan

Filed under: My take — nagaeyari @ 9:47 pm

 

So within the past two days in two separate Japanese history courses (taught by two separate professors), I’ve been told that horses were not indigenous to the Japanese archipelago. They were first introduced in the middle of the 5th century through Korea.

 

I heard that and my ears pricked up — I know I’ve read somewhere about horses in Japan before the middle of the Kofun Period…

 

Oh, yes! Professor J. Edward Kidder, Jr. has the following to say on page 291 note 50 of “Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology, History, and Mythology”:

 

The strange mix of nonexistent domestic and wild animals and a single bird [in the Gishi Wajinden, an ancient Chinese text discussing Japan] leaves the way open for a large number that might exist on the islands. Big cats had disappeared during the Jomon period, the Siberian mountain lion being the chief one. Horses have come and gone from the ancient Japanese scene, one vocal school of thought claiming that fluorine absorption and carbon-14 tests on horse skeletons from “so-called Jomon sites” have proved to be of recent animals (Mabuchi 1993:4, 652). On the other hand, the shell-mound database indicates they had at least existed there, but perhaps were not seen within the Yamatai polity as they were not found to be of much use. The type was the small Kiso horse, named after the area through which the Kiso River runs, from Nagano prefecture through Gifu and into Ise Bay west of Nagoya city in Aichi prefecture. This database of the Jomon period lists 532 sites with horse bones, starting about the time of Late Jomon (Oikawa, 62:7). They apparently had not all been eaten or become extinct, as some Yayoi horses were a little larger (Mori 1974b:236-237), perhaps as a result of domestication. Why so many “modern” horses are said to be buried in shell-mounds is beyond explanation. Korean horses were introduced around the middle of the Kofun period, and were never very large…

 

I believe a better statement to make about Japanese horses would be something like: While the small Kiso horse is indigenous to the Japanese archipelago, larger horses used for riding and warfare were not imported from Korea until the middle of the 5th century A.D. It would seem that the earlier Kiso horse decreased in number before the introduction of the continental/peninsular horses.

 

Update: *Another* professor told me the same story about horses not being indigenous to the Japanese archipelago, today.

 

Another Update: I recently read about the unearthing of Yayoi horse bells. I am going to look around, because I’d like to see something as startling as this mentioned in more than one text. If I can find a second or third mention, I’ll post the citations. That would be fascinating.

 

So as it stands, I’m still not convinced by the customary view that Jomon or Yayoi horses died out (evidenced by no mention of them in the Gishi Wajinden, a Chinese text on the Japanese of the 3rd century) before the introduction of Korean horses.

 

And

 

Kiso

 

The Kiso horse has inhabited Japan for about one thousand years and has in the past been an indispensable aid for farm use, transportation, and power. Exact origin of the Kiso and other ancient horse breeds of Japan is uncertain. They are believed to be descended from either the plateau horses of Central Asia or the Mongolian horses of the grasslands.

 

Japan uses horses for military purposes as well as in agriculture and transportation. In the twelfth century, the warrior Yashinaka Kiso reportedly had 10,000 horse soldiers. In the Edo era (1600-1867) there was again emphasis on military use. Kiso canyon belonged to the Owari feudal clan. Records from this time regarding the ancient types have been a valuable aid to modern horse breeders. The government of the Kiso area considered the Kiso horse a strategic material, and produced many; numbers again reaching more than 10,000.

 

During the Meiji period (1868-1903), Japan fought against several foreign countries. Because Japanese horses are generally small in size, the authorities discouraged breeding purebred Kiso and encouraged a crossbreeding program between the Kiso and larger western horses. During the period surrounding World War II a government program was administered for the purpose of castrating purebred Kiso males. Consequently, almost all Kiso stallions were castrated. The Kiso was effected more dramatically by this administration plan because the breed had traditionally been considered a good military horse. Other Japanese horses were primarily used for agricultural purposes.

 

The existence of the Kiso breed is mainly due to a single horse kept as a holy horse at a Shinto shrine and therefore had not been castrated. The horse, named Shinmei, and another Kiso mare named Kayama gave birth to Dai-san Haruyama in 1951. This horse became the last of the pure Kiso. The present Kiso breed is a back-bred breed among the descendants of Dai-san Haruyama and other Kiso descendants. There are some ranches in Japan which specialize in Kiso or other Japanese horses.

 

The Kiso horse has a temperament quite similar to the Tarpan. They have been described as being similar in appearance to the Przewalski or the Mongolian horse. Some Kiso have dorsal stripe, which is one criteria for measuring the pureness of the horse as a Kiso.

 

And

 

Horses were brought to Japan from Korea in the Yayoi period (c.300 BCE-.CE 300). Small

ceramic horse figurines have been found Kofun (CE 300-600) mound tombs.

 

And

 

Misaki

 

The Misaki originated in Japan. It inhabits the meadow of Cape Toi, or Toimisaki (misaki means "cape"), on the south side of Miyazaki Prefecture. Cape Toi is one of the best known and most important spots for tourism in Kyushu, and the Misaki ponies run wild in the area.

 

All of the native horses of Japan are believed to be descended from horses brought from China about 2,000 years ago. They are now separated into eight distinct breeds. Hokkaido Pony, Kiso, Misaki, Miyako, Noma pony, Toakara, Tsushima, and Yonaguni.

 

I guess you have to make up your own mind based on the evidence that seems the most logical to you. John

[Brian]

We now return you to our regular programing......

 

Brian

[John A Stuart]

Sorry Brian and Rich, i just wanted to state the current theories extant about the subject. John

[Brian]

No worries John, interesting info and glad it was posted. My reply was just a hint to others to leave that there (or make a new topic) and not to debate your good post too much more in Rich's thread.

 

Brian

[Ford Hallam]

I described the basic technique a while ago here

 

but here's the gist of it;

 

  Quote

The technique is called keshi-zogan. It's basically a process of filling an engraved, or chiselled line with gold or silver amalgam. The mercury is then vaporised with heat leaving the precious metal behind. It typically takes a few applications to fill the lines completely.

 

The Tanaka school use the the technique to create those little dots on the seki-gane and those kozuka with the incredibly fine lines of script are also done in this way. There's a famous shakudo tsuba by Murakami Jochiku that has a design of a a circular crane done in gold that is also keshi-zogan.

 

I've never seen the technique done with anything other than gold or silver and of course it won't be seen on ferrous metal.

 

Another fairly common application is where you see a fine spray of tiny gold dots on a non-ferrous ground like shakudo, shibuichi or copper.

 

I'll be adding the name you quoted, Rich, to my glossary...thanks :D

 

I have serious doubts about etching the ground metal away the leave the gold in relief though. An etched surface is never very even and in addition the alloy would be selectively removed as the gold component would resist the action of the acid. Also, in order to patinate shakudo it's essential to polish the surface in such a thorough way so as to completely remove any oxides as they inhibit the development of the black colour that I can't see this suggestion of etching would be practical.

[Ted Tenold]

Correct me if I'm wrong Ford, but wouldn't also etching on a material such as shakudo also lead to a bit of depleation plating which would also hinder the patination or render it ineffective? Shakudo has gold in it that would remain on the surface in larger part than the copper etched away leaving a sheen or odd coloration to the plate surface. Somewhere I read about this actually being a technique in some Mayan or Incan sculpture to give a gold hue to the piece.

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Ted,

 

yes, that's basically what I was getting at. The technique as used in the Americas by the pre-Columbian peoples is called depletion gilding. One of the more common gold alloys found naturally, particularly in those parts, was electrum. Essentially a 50/50 mix of silver and gold. Cementation...or depletion gilding would leach out the silver and thus leave the surface gold rich.

[Lorenzo]

On Lethal elegance by Joe Earle there is a set of fuchi/kashira filled of tiny red and gold kanji on a shakudo base described to have been done this way, I mean kinkeshikomi. That red is described as "red gold". I suspect whatever it is it should have a large content in copper. So we know we can use mercury to apply both gold and silver; is it true for copper too?

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

  Quote

So we know we can use mercury to apply both gold and silver; is it true for copper too?

 

 

If my school memories good, yes.

[Ford Hallam]

While it is possible to dissolve copper in mercury I very much doubt that it could be usefully applied in the same way that gold and silver is. I say this because in Japanese metalwork the copper would then be patinated and mercury based process lays down a layer of metal that is very porous and grainy. Silver and gold is burnished smooth or given a texture after it is applied. If you were to follow the same procedure with copper it would be practically impossible to create a perfectly smooth and oxide free surface (gold and silver don't form oxides as readily as copper and they aren't patinated either), which is a prerequisite for achieving a good solid colour.

 

The example you mention (page 117, item 69 by Sano Naoteru), Lorenzo, is described as " red tinted copper and gold" but I didn't see any reference to kinkeshikomi nor red gold. In fact I've only ever, and then very rarely, seen red gold on late Meiji period work.

 

From what I can see the description is accurate in saying it is flush inlay (Hira-zogan, or more correctly; hira sen-zogan) of 2 colours of gold (achieved by varying the purity of the alloys) and red patinated copper.

 

For what it's worth, I also think the horse on the kashira that is shown from the front is a poorly drawn image...all the arguments about perspective, foreshortening and equine pedigree aside...a knock kneed pony is a dodgy ride :lol:

[Lorenzo]

Sorry my mistake.

I have not the book here now, and I was tricked by the fact that on the Boston Museum website it is described the same way as the Yoshioka Inabanosuke tsuba with a peacock, "iroe hirazogan" (which should means flat inlay to give colour) that I wrongly assumed to be done with what we are calling keshikomi. So this means both this inlay are done with chisels.

About the red gold it was my error in reading.

[Ford Hallam]

No problem Lorenzo, just trying to keep things clear.

 

The peacock tsuba by Yoshioka Inabanosuke is, in my opinion, mainly kinkeshi zogan. The beak, feet and the wire outline of the seppa-dai are true inlay though. So that makes a good example of the technique.

 

Also, with regard to the term Keshikomi zogan, I think the implied meaning of the kanji for "Komi" being to fill up or drive in etc, really adds to the understanding of the term.

 

I would propose we use this term; kin keshikomi zogan to designate the use of mercury amalgam to fill engraved lines and dots and the more common gilding application to simply give a surface coating; kin-keshi

[Curran]

Interesting discussion for those of us less technically educated. Thank you Ford, Lorenzo, and Ted.

It sounds the work is much more involved than I imagined from the image, but I've long since learned there is much more to the tricks (I mean more the ~complexity~ or difficulty) of shakudo than I have yet read in any book.

[Eric H]

Indeed an interesting and educative thread. The following set is by TOMOKATA. It's Shakudo migakiji decorated with an extremely fine key-fret design in red copper, the sunken plate applied in gold relief with various forms of the "JU" character.

Question : is this keshi-zogan ?

 

Eric

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Eric,

 

I'm pretty confidant that the copper is true, wire inlay ( hira sen zogan) the gold characters I suspect are also true inlay but as I can't see the edges of these raised kanji I can't be sure. They may be carved from the sunken ground, like early Mino work, and then simply had the raised surfaces gilded with kin-keshi. If you can examine the sides of the gold characters and can see the gold going neatly down to the shakudo ground then I'd suggest that it is solid gold inlay.

 

regards,

 

Ford

[Eric H]

Hi Ford,

 

After close examination I can say that the 47 "Kotobuki" characters, each different, are carved from the sunken ground and then gilded with kin-keshi. Unfortunately the pics are lackluster and do not show the beauty of the different colors.

 

Best regards

Eric

[Martin]

This is indeed an interesting discussion.

Are there maybe any (close-up) pictures available on how Keshikomi Zogan work look like?

I can hardly recognize the Zogan 'standing out' in the pictures, that Richard supplied.

 

Best,

[Lorenzo]

Hi Martin, check this picture out and click on it for the zoom.

 

http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_a ... ll_start=1

[Martin]

Hi Lorenzo,

 

thanks for the link.

But is this really Keshikomi Zogan? I can´t see the inlay standing out in high relief.

It seems to me that the inlay and plate was 'polished' to a plain surface (as seen in Kaga school).

 

Best,