Wild things

Bugyotsuji · September 2

Pushed forwards, over on Matt's rats 'n mice thread, by Colin et al, :laughing: I find myself setting up a thread here for Tosogu illustrating wildlife. I am thinking animals, but I guess 'wilding' is a fashion nowadays, so the greenery which surrounds and supports animal life could be included too.

If there are no replies, I will add a photo here in due course, with something to prime the pumps. :thumbsup:

robinalexander · September 2

Thanks Piers, you provided the (almost) perfect opportunity to ask the question....what the heck is on this Kanehisa 98. Is this animal, mineral or vegetable?

Jesta · September 2

Turtles all the way down...

Matsunoki · September 2

Fish and Kingfisher….

DoTanuki yokai · September 2

Rob I would guess it is vegetable but it’s hard to see under the Ito.

Jesta I wonder your Nanako on the turtle Tsuba is not round but little squares, is this a common thing or points to a specific school ?

thutson · September 2

Colin, I love your Kingfisher tsuba, wonderful piece.

Bugyotsuji · September 2

Robin, trying to imagine those with Shakudo finish intact. What could they be? Strips of konbu with biwa fruit, tied as an offering???

Wasp menuki

Matsunoki · September 2

3 hours ago, robinalexander said:

Is this animal, mineral or vegetable?

Hi Rob, imo they are tied bundle of some type of foliage with perhaps one flower showing. They look like long thin leaves and in one image you can clearly see some sort of binding strap holding them together. Wonder if they represent some type of Shinto offering? Dunno, but my money is on plant.

Matsunoki · September 2

Big Bakumatsu piece…school of Konkan

ROKUJURO · September 2

Wild geese (or are they swans?) are well known motifs on TSUBA:

Matsunoki · September 2

Probably Meiji?

Matsunoki · September 2

3 minutes ago, ROKUJURO said:

Wild geese (or are they swans?)

Geese imo…..but ones with long necks🙂🙂

Bugyotsuji · September 2

Adding Karigane 雁

Matsunoki · September 2

4 hours ago, robinalexander said:

Is this animal, mineral or vegetable?

Just had another Quick Look, could be bundles of Yuzuriha leaves…..a sacred Shinto plant that does yield globular flowers (or maybe it’s fruit)

1kinko · September 2

Square nanako- just the preliminary method of marking where the nanako should have gone. Easier with straight lines to guide.

Franco D · September 2

1 hour ago, 1kinko said:

Square nanako- just the preliminary method of marking where the nanako should have gone.

Do you have a reference or citation for this?

1kinko · September 2

Franco- Nope, just a general observation gained from examining a lot of nanako with squarish sides and engraved concentric lines.

PhoenixDude · September 2

Snake in hollyhock by yokoshi nobuyoshi

ROKUJURO · September 2

AKAO TSUBA with TSURU (cranes)

Dan tsuba · September 2

Crane and turtle-

thutson · September 2

Turtles and catfish tsuba

Spartancrest · September 2

Do Chickens count as "Wild things"? I like this little guard because the hen manages to disappear on the ura side.

Jesta · September 3

12 hours ago, DoTanuki yokai said:

Rob I would guess it is vegetable but it’s hard to see under the Ito.

Jesta I wonder your Nanako on the turtle Tsuba is not round but little squares, is this a common thing or points to a specific school ?

Thanks for highlighting this.

I think that it might be a trick of the light, but I am not sure. I had not really compared the shape to others before, but now I will give it some thought. I am sure that there are others on the board who might be able to comment in more detail.