Mito Kinko vs Aizu Shoami

[John A Stuart]

Hi All, As far as I know there has been a suspected overlap between metalworkers going back and forth between Aizu and Mito. I have a Mito Kinko tsuba I bought a few years ago that was designated Mito Kinko. Recently I picked up one from Allan B. that I bought because of the similarities in workmanship. It was designated as Aizu Shoami. When you look at the background carving there is a definite similarity. The theme is so similar as well as the soft metal work. I think it is by the same artist. The major difference seems to be mimi and chiselmarks in the nakagoana. What do you all think?

[John A Stuart]

Here is the other side. For some reason I could not post in the original post. John

[Mantis dude]

Interesting topic, I have a similiar issue, I think Aizu shoami are very good at copying. These guys still had skills, perhaps what they lacked in originality, they still had metal work abilities. The plate is the only difference between the two. These 2 mantis tsubas (of course mantises) look almost exactly alike, the detail work matches extremely well. However, the larger one is Mito and the other is Aizu shoami. I actually found the exact copy of the smaller one (it is still a large tsuba) and it was labeled Aizu shoami from a Japanese website. I went to buy it but was too late. Anyway, I think they are just good artists and were able to copy Mito style very easily or maybe they even got hold of the design books and started cranking out pieces. There is definately differences in quality of work of Aizu even within the "shiirimono" works. Purely guessing.

[John A Stuart]

Hi Ken, Almost the perfect analogue. Mine are shishi and yours mantis. I have been reading the NBTHK articles on Mito Kinko by Fukushi Shigeo trans. G. Robson. The premise there is that the Mito school was derivitive of Shoami artisans that had training in the Goto school. Really interesting and I can't wait for more of it. I wonder who copied whom? or same group heritage? John

[Mantis dude]

Where does the Nara school fit in? I thought that most of these (Mito and Aizu) are copies of Nara. Threw that in just to make it more complicated. Opportunity for some breakthrough work. I was speaking to Jim G. about these since I have many (they did a lot of mantises). Robert Haynes used the term "Mito Shoami" to describe them, but there aren't any records of that actually being a school. If one sees that term being used take it as descriptive term rather than as an actual school. Getting away from that term, the plates were the difference, there is a certain look to them that is different than the original schools. The plates have a kind of shine and rusty look to them. Many of mine he dated to the early 1800's. He said that he has come across many of these and they were actually mounted. So, I would assume that they were intended for the Japanese market. Perhaps the really poor works are from a later date and can be seperated out since they were intended for the foreign market? On the earlier pieces, Did the merchant class buy these for mounting? or perhaps the Samurai baught them since the merchant class was continuing to prosper and could afford the more elaborate pieces, while the samurai were on the decline - Ronin wear?

[John A Stuart]

Hi Ken, From what I understand popular designs were copied to make money, after all it was a market economy although rice was treated like a futures market causing many samurai to default on their loans. Pieces made by the master smiths showed a higher quality like you say and probably beyond the reach of the lower class samurai or ronin, who may indeed have become metalworkers themselves. Mito was closer to the large markets than the Aizu area but the areas themselves were fairly close to each other. Itinerant artists roamed between these areas and that is why I believe that the similarities between them are a result of cross transference of technique rather than out and out copying. This, a result of journeyman metalworkers leaving the masters workshop to find a position of their own. The plate issue in iron examples intrigues me. They seem to be a very homogenous steel, no layers, no tekkotsu and I think foreign steel. The steel seems to be the same for both Aizu and Mito. Anyhow more research needed for sure. John

[Guest Simon Rowson]

Hi John,

 

Simon here again! I just saw this thread on Aizu Shoami and thought I'd mention that, of three tsuba's of mine that have just made hozon with the NBTHK, one was papered as "Aizu Shoami".

It is mokko shaped with a carving of ume and has a nicely hammered tetsu surface.

When I can master downloading pictures onto this site, I'll post a couple as it is very reminiscent of Nara work (from which it was obviously copied).

 

Best wishes

Simon