BALEEN - WHALE WRAPPING OF TSUKA

[GARY WORTHAM]

I find that unique properties of Japanese sword fittings, always are overlooked, for their exploration; of their source, use, and history. One, being the wrapping of the tsuka. Silk, cloth, leather, etc.; all flash thru over hands, as we examine a sword in it's full dress. Yet, the use of whale baleen, in the wrapping of the tsuka, finds me in deep thought, as to why it was used, how it was produced, and when was it in vogue, and where is it today; I never see it. Is it a regional item as well as era ??????

 

Over the years of show exploration, I can not remember a time, I held in my hands, such an item. They must be rare, tightfully collected, and just plan not there. I would love to see others examples of their collection, in a photo, with explanations and history. Occasionally, I come across an old catalog of such an item, as in Compton's catalogs; but not in the main stream of the shows, clubs, or collectors. Gary Wortham

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Gary,

 

baleen is, as you say, not at all common. My impression is also that it is a highly prized wrap found only on quite special koshirae. More often on Aikuchi but I know of at least 2 daisho thus wrapped, both in museums in Japan

 

Baleen is composed of keratin, the same stuff as horn, claws and your nails. It's a fibrous protein. Turtle shells are composed of the same material and it was common practice to weld plates of shell together using boiling water and pressure so I imagine baleen can be bonded in a similar way. The baleen plates of whales can grow over 10 foot but I imagine shorter strips were joined together and then split off into ever finer strips until finally they could be drawn through a drawplate to produce a uniform thread. A bit like the way Japanese bamboo blinds (Sudare) are made. When the material is wet and warm it is very flexible.

 

Naturally, with the moratorium on whaling the stuff is no longer readily available and I haven't seen a convincing synthetic substitute yet although I imagine it would be relatively to find a suitable nylon or other polymer that would behave and look the same.

 

Here are some images of an Aikuchi I have that is in need of some baleen repair...on the saya too.

[Bazza]

Hi Gary,

 

baleen is, as you say, not at all common. My impression is also that it is a highly prized wrap found only on quite special koshirae. More often on Aikuchi but I know of at least 2 daisho thus wrapped, both in museums in Japan

 

Baleen is composed of keratin, the same stuff as horn, claws and your nails. It's a fibrous protein. Turtle shells are composed of the same material and it was common practice to weld plates of shell together using boiling water and pressure so I imagine baleen can be bonded in a similar way. The baleen plates of whales can grow over 10 foot but I imagine shorter strips were joined together and then split off into ever finer strips until finally they could be drawn through a drawplate to produce a uniform thread. A bit like the way Japanese bamboo blinds (Sudare) are made. When the material is wet and warm it is very flexible.

 

Naturally, with the moratorium on whaling the stuff is no longer readily available and I haven't seen a convincing synthetic substitute yet although I imagine it would be relatively to find a suitable nylon or other polymer that would behave and look the same.

 

Here are some images of an Aikuchi I have that is in need of some baleen repair...on the saya too.

Dear Brethren,

This is a lovely koshirae Ford. Meiji period??? I did a google search using keywords [ baleen buying ] and turned up this very interesting thread:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/alaska/3 ... aleen.html

So I guess baleen is available if one looks hard enough. I think I might have some pics somewhere of another koshirae - if I find it I'll put it up.

Regards,

Barry Thomas

[John A Stuart]

Hi Guys, I can get baleen where I live occasionally, expensive though. From bowhead whales. John

[bridgeofdreams]

Thanks for those pictures, Ford, very interesting koshirae.

 

There was a baleen-wrapped O-tanto for sale at the Tampa show some years ago, and a friend seriously considered buying it but the deal breaker was the repairs needed to the handle wrap, which was more in the typical style where small bundles of baleen were the "ito." As I recall it had been dyed a wonderful reddish color, but several of the "ito" were broken, and the difficulty of finding the material for the repair and someone able to make it made it a no-sale for my friend. I should have had a camera.

 

 

Craig

 

http://www.bridgeofdreams.com

[Ted Tenold]

I suspect exportation of it would be a sensative, if not prohibited process though.

 

I have seen several late Edo examples of baleen wrap and it is both beautiful and delicate. All of them were on top shelf koshirae with nice blades. I also have seen another example of a tsuka that was carved from solid horn to resemble baleen. I have an image of it somewhere and will post it if I can find it. The work it took to carve it was amazing.

[IanB]

I thought I had added a post on this earlier this morning but it seems to have become lost in cyberspace. Following on from Ford's comment, here is a very elaborate daisho in Liverpool Museum with this type of wrap. I was however going to make the following point. I have seen a few aikuchi (/ aiguchi) with wraps of this type in a damaged condition. What remained of the wrapping material was incredibly brittle and showed a light buff coloured core with a shiny black exterior. I may be wrong, but I suspect that in some cases the material is not baleen at all, but a species of rattan or vine that has been split down to the right diameter and black lacquered before being used. As I say, I have no real evidence and it would need microscopic examination, but rattan or vine would readily give pieces of sufficient length and would be sufficiently flexible whilst fresh.

Ian Bottomley

[GARY WORTHAM]

Since this is a very interesting and elusive subject matter, I found a beautiful tanto by Moriiye, that was on the Ricecracker web site, for sale, http://www.ricecracker.com ; as an example for others, using the whale baleen on it''s tuska. It's condition is excellent, as well as the use of a multi color method of construction. You can access the old sale site by internet search, [ baleen Japanese swords ], and find Ricecracker link

 

In addition. I found a site on the source, use, and identification of whale baleen in museum collections. [ aic.stanford.edu ] is it's address.

or go to the internet, looking for, [ baleen Japanese swords ] to find these 2 subject sites as mentioned.

Gary Wortham

[raaay]

Hi Ian

 

Is the Daisho in liverpool Museum the one with the silver mounts covered in monkeys ? and do you know if it is back on display

 

regards

ray

[reinhard]

I may be wrong, but I suspect that in some cases the material is not baleen at all

Ian Bottomley

 

I guess Ian (and Ford) have very important points here. Baleen-wrappings, or what is held for it, look quite different occasionally and I've always wondered wether they are made from the same material or not. "Baleen"-wrappings seem to be a phenomenon dating from late Edo, early Meiji period and are not uncommon. I suspect true baleen wrapping to be quite popular for swords never meant to be used for frequent practice nor fighting but for representation in the first place. Leather, silk, uncovered ray-skin are much more resilient to permanent stress factors than "whale-bone".

During late Edo-period true "baleen wrappings" were made for swords never meant to be used for a practical purpose. However during early Meiji period western demand for highly decorative features like "baleen-wrapping" increased and Japanese craftsmen eventually filled this gap with other materials than baleen. I add some examples for illustration without commenting their value. All of them ended up in Western shops finally. - BTW I saw some of the swords belonging to these mountings in hand and none of them was worth any further investigation. The whole thing is about koshirae and western taste.

 

reinhard

[IanB]

Ray, Yes, the daisho I was referring to is the monkey one. For those who have not seen it, all of the mounts are silver decorated in high relief with monkeys raiding persimmons. The quality is staggering - they have inlaid gold teeth and gold eyes with shakudo pupils. Just to top it all, the saya are lacquered to represent pine bark and you would be hard pushed to tell it wasn't.

Ian

[Ford Hallam]

One of the chaps on my forum, Karl, "der wunderkind" Wunderlich, noticed this discussion and sent me the following link;

 

Link to article on Baleen with specific reference to it's use on Japanese sword mounts. This would appear to quite an extensive bit of research and seems to provide pretty much all we'd need to know. I reckon I might even try making some myself now...anyone got a dead whale for me?

 

There are number of pages so use the navigation buttons at the button to move forward, or back.

[Lorenzo]

I was looking today at Mishina's website; on the page referring to contemporary tsukamaki by Yasuo Toyama I see an example called "Fuji-maki" which seems to be baleen.

 

 

 

Does somebody knows the kanji for "fujimaki" or the kanji to use for the baleen wrapping please? Any help is appreciated. I have done some random kanji choice and search but the closest thing I got as result is the wrapping of Japanese saws handles.

 

Thank you

[IanB]

Lorenzo, Ah, this is what I suspected and mentioned in my post above. Fuji is of course wisteria which grows as a creeper over other trees. The tsuka you show is bound with material cut from the wisteria vine and presumably given a coating of lacquer to preserve it. What a beautiful job that binding is.

Ian Bottomley

[Lorenzo]

Thank you Ian, I didn't see that part of text before... stupid me

 

It now makes sense why I find tool wrappings using 藤まき.

 

I would be interested in this case to know the baleen kanji as well please

[Guido]

I would be interested in this case to know the baleen kanji as well please

鯨髭巻 (くじらひげまき).

 

And don't feel bad about not coming up with "Fujimaki", because it is not: it's not 藤 (wisteria) but 籐 (rattan), so it reads とうまき; the kanji look very similar, so it's easy to confuse them.

[Lorenzo]

Wonderful Guido ... thank you so much

[___]

I know the last post on this topic was in 2009, but  might anyone be able to recommend a substitute to this material? Because of it's legality and ethical reasons, it is not as desirable in the modern day. it looks really cool, but by chance might there be a plastic that one could use to achieve similar look?

[IanB]

Darius,  Rattan is readily available in craft shops in long lengths for the basket making fraternity. It is far too thick for tsuka maki, but it could be split. I suspect the original was finished by pulling through a draw-plate before giving it a coat of lacquer. Having said all that I should hate to try using it. I once did a jabara wrap, ordering the material from Japan and finding to my horror it came as two separate hanks that had to be sewn together before using. Then struggling with 4 or 5 lengths side by side - not easy.

Ian Bottomley

[DRDave]

I know the last post on this topic was in 2009, but  might anyone be able to recommend a substitute to this material? Because of it's legality and ethical reasons, it is not as desirable in the modern day. it looks really cool, but by chance might there be a plastic that one could use to achieve similar look?

 

Baleen was once used as winding on bows for string instruments.  The material used today is available in three colors.

[TETSUGENDO]

Dave,

 

If this material is of a suitable length, appearance and dimension someone should certainly give it a go.

 

-S-

[cuttingedge59]

Hi All

I know Hans Koga has Whale Baleen , I have seen it hanging on his wall in some of his FB posts .

He has also mentioned it on FB.

 

Cheers 

Chris NZ