Two Kanayama Tsuba of Hyotan

Iaido dude · June 9

The gourd (hyotan 瓢箪) is my spirit vegetable it seems. As a motif in asian arts and crafts I have grown up with them. It is fitting then that a few Momoyama Period Kanayama tsuba currently in my small collection use the double hyotan (small upper half, larger lower half) as subtly recognizable motifs. Kanayama tsuba are generally described as being symmetrical and with patterns that are abstract, which I find to be especially true for Muromachi Period pieces. Those forged during the early Edo period are also rather stiff and more Tokugawa in their confirmatory sensibility. The Momoyama sensibility is “looser,” freer, with greater vitality and exuberance that is unique to this time and as informed by the aesthetic principles of Tea Ceremony. The two Kanayama tsuba reflect this sensibility and are carved in ji-sukashi.

Hyotan have been long used in Japan as containers for sake, water, and flowers; regarded as lucky charms; gourd shapes appear as architectural motifs, cartouches for woodblock prints, and signatures of print artists; multiple gourds on a battle standard (sennari hyotan) is attributed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi who unified Japan in the late 16th century¹; and gourds, as it turns out, are among those motifs found on sword guards (tsuba) mounted on katana or wakizashi. From the zen point of view, the hollow gourd denotes emptiness and seeking truth first through an inward gaze at the self.² For bushi it may have served to ward off bad luck on the battlefield where the possibility of a deadly outcome was ever present.

¹Symbols of Japan, Thematic Motifs in Art and Design, Baird, Merrily, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc, 1944

²Zen Painting and Calligraphy, 17th-20th Centuries Exhibition, Woodson, Yoko, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, 2001

Tsuba 1:

When I first saw this gem, I almost missed the somewhat abstract hyotan motif that is actually integral to the composition. I thought they were buddhists beads. There are two double hyotan that form the hitsu-ana on either side, anchored on what appear to be stems. There are counter weights above and below. Tsuchime is enhanced in natural sunlight. The patina is a dark brown. It has enough globular tekkotsu on the rim to fuel a rocket to the moon. It is a nearly perfectly round murugata shape.

73.5 x 72.5 x 4.6 (4.9 at mimi) mm

Tsuba #2 (please see next post below)

Iaido dude · June 9

Tsuba #2

This one is very similar in iron treatment and features, but the composition is one double hyotan on either side extending to the symmetric hitsu-ana. It is essentially a perfectly round muragata shape. The seller indicated that the other motif is "water well" (ido 井戸) rather than windows or carpenter's squares. I couldn't find a meaning for this motif in Japanese culture, but there is a buddhist practice of offering water poured over figures of Siddhartha at shrines to cultivate the virtues of calmness, clarity, and purity of body, speech, and mind. It is a reminder to diligently cleanse ourselves of attachments, aversion, and delusion through the generating of generosity, compassion, and wisdom. In that way we may reveal our innate buddha nature.

7.0 x 7.0 x 0.5 cm, slightly dished

kissakai · June 9

Lovely

Iaido dude · June 9

Thanks. The first one has a great sense of fluidity and movement. The second one reflects the quiet strength of the samurai warrior that Sasano writes about in his Gold Book.

Ed · June 9

Both are very nice.

Japan2112 · June 12

Very nice Kanayama tsuba.

Here is one with gourds and geese, a natural Owari pairing.

Mark C

Iaido dude · June 12

Thanks for sharing this, Mark. Very nice, beautiful composition!! The shape may be that of a winter gourd (hyotan tou). I'm trying to think of a connection between gourd and goose other than that both are visually appealing in their abstract forms.

Iaido dude · June 12

Thanks for sharing this, Mark. Very nice, beautiful composition!! The shape may be that of a winter gourd (hyotan tou). I'm trying to think of a connection between gourd and goose other than that both are visually appealing in their abstract forms.

Here is a zen painting by the great zen buddhist abbot of the 19th-20th century Nakahara Nantembo along with the original commentary that I referenced previously.

Zen Painting and Calligraphy, 17th-20th Centuries Exhibition, Woodson, Yoko, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, 2001