Lotus sutra tsuba

[BIG]

A strong religous sign..

 

https://www.zacke.at...&mc=1&pp=48&pn=1&g=1

[Spartancrest]

That link is not working for me Peter [sold Jun 14, 2024] - But I tracked down the image.  

 

On another issue the same Auction house [and others that are linked ] has this "thing" listed https://www.zacke.at...&sd=0&pp=96&pn=1&g=1

   I do hope no one has put money towards this mass produced piece of junk!

You can confidently disregard all the BS description except note in the lot details - 20th century.  Yet the artist is listed as living  1722-1787!!!   

[Jake6500]

2 hours ago, Spartancrest said:

That link is not working for me Peter [sold Jun 14, 2024] - But I tracked down the image.  

 

On another issue the same Auction house [and others that are linked ] has this "thing" listed https://www.zacke.at...&sd=0&pp=96&pn=1&g=1

   I do hope no one has put money towards this mass produced piece of junk!

You can confidently disregard all the BS description except note in the lot details - 20th century.  Yet the artist is listed as living  1722-1787!!!   

 

I noticed this one Dale. It's interesting because it appears to be a mass reproduction of an authentic piece. On some of the reproductions different metals are sometimes used (eg. Bronze or copper for the circle around the head in the top right instead of gold, etc.)

 

Or maybe I am wrong and the whole design is modern, who knows? 

[Spartancrest]

1 hour ago, Jake6500 said:

a mass reproduction of an authentic piece

This design is one of my pet "hates" - they constantly appear, some like the auction piece at horrendous prices. Plain ones, coloured ones and in two sizes, but the details are always the same. I do/did? have an image of one that was mounted and it could well have been the original - but you would need to see it in hand to be sure. The "bulk buy" image is a real scream! 

 

 

 

Found the mounted example [I keep everything but that doesn't mean I can always find it again!]

[I even found the original link - https://new.uniqueja...h-navy-seal-trident/  ]

 

[FlorianB]

A note about the Lotos Sutra Tsuba.

It seems, that the Kanji form a caterpillar.

Coincidental or is there a connection to the theme?

 

Florian

[Spartancrest]

2 hours ago, FlorianB said:

the Kanji form a caterpillar.

You are right but it is a centipede I think.    https://historyofjapan.co.uk/wiki/seta/  I am not sure what the centipede has to do with the lotus sutra, but it does have a big place in Japanese folklore.

   

Bishamon and the centipede 蜈蚣 or 百足  –

Bishamon’s messenger is the centipede or mukade. 

 

In the "Handbook of Japanese Mythology" by Ashkenazi it says: “Centipedes are impure, polluted animals associated with the dead.” 

 

On the Seta bridge Otohime met Fujiwara Hidesato (Tawara Toda). Him she recognised at once as the hero
sent by the gods to free Omi from the frightful terror. Him she implored to kill the mukade, to which he
assented. The same evening the hero arrived at the foot of the Mikamiyama where he perceived the
large body of the centipede twined round the mountain in seven coils. The eyes of the horrible being
burnt through the semi-darkness like two flaming moons. The intrepid hero shot four arrows in rapid
succession at the mukade but in vain, not one of them pierced the armour, all rebounded from the steellike
Seeing this he, on Otohime’s advice wetted the head of the fifth with his spittle — human spittle is popularly
believed to be fatal to snakes, centipedes and creeping things in general — shot, and with this last arrow
pierced armour and body of the centipede. The next morning it was found dead at the foot of the mountain.
Deeply grateful Otohime took Hidesato as a guest to her father’s palace. The dragon-king awarded him
suitably with a costly bell of bronze, a never ending bolt of brocade, an inexhaustible bag of rice and a kettle
that even without fire always held boiling water.

[Bugyotsuji]

Takeda Shingen's troops used the centipede mark as a symbol of his faith in Bishamonten.

[FlorianB]

Dale,

 

Thank You for this information.

Sorry for using the wrong word, I meant centipede of course.

Interesting combination anyway.

 

Florian

[Bugyotsuji]

If you have never seen a Japanese or Asian centipede, there is an experience waiting for you. Better to have one as a servant than as an enemy.

 

 

[Jake6500]

15 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

If you have never seen a Japanese or Asian centipede, there is an experience waiting for you. Better to have one as a servant than as an enemy.

 

 

 

Aw hell naw, those things are terrifying!

[Spartancrest]

Australia [the continent where everything would like to kill you! ] has some large centipedes as well - they are very friendly and will come right up to you [so run!] 

https://australian.m...des/giant-centipede/

 

  Australasian Giant Centipede Ethmostigmus rubripes

[BIG]

I do not think and see a beast in the king of the sutra..

 

the long strikes are esthetic patterns, recognition signs and symbols for this special sutra.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namu_Myōhō_Renge_Kyō

 

Btw Tawara Toda really exist as a hero in instable times..

 

https://www.irishtim...y-painters-1.3567829

[FlorianB]

Peter, that seems to clarify it.

 

Right from the start I recognized a „hidden“ or stylized centipede (and still I do) - a coincidence based on the long „tentacles“ and the bend form.

 

Florian

[Bugyotsuji]

But what is the link with Tawara Tōta, or mukadé centipede, or Lotus Sutra, and that pomegranate?

[BIG]

Auction house listet it until friday. But now it`s totally gone. May be they forget their own sale in june ???

 

At the first look, the design is awful big and has a somekind namban writing imho. But who knows..

[BIG]

Piers I captured Dale`s centipade link, with some other „nice“ links in it, just for fun..

[Bugyotsuji]

Yes, I enjoyed all the links, thank you.

 

On the original tsuba above, posted by Dale, there is a 'zakuro' pomegranate bottom left. I was wondering why? 

[BIG]

Do not find anything that brings sutra and fruit together..

[Jake6500]

1 hour ago, BIG said:

Do not find anything that brings sutra and fruit together..

 

At the risk of dissenting on the centipede thing, if the sutra on the tsuba is interpreted as having been deliberately curved by the artisan to represent mukade this might explain the connection. Mukade were occasionally used as a symbol for Bishamon as Piers has mentioned.

 

There is a story about the goddess Kishimojin (Hariti) visiting Bishamon (Vaisravana) after losing one of her sons. Hariti is guided by Bishamon to Gautama Buddha who returns her son to her on the condition that she replace her diet of human flesh with that of pomegranate. 

 

This story could perhaps be the theme of the tsuba with the pomegranate representing Kishimojin and the centipede-like sutra representing Bishamon's and Gautama's joint guidance.

 

The pomegranate is also a fertility symbol so this tsuba might have been an auspicious fertility charm of sorts. Perhaps it was commissioned for a religious or superstitious person attempting to bear children as a gift, although that might be reading too much into it.