More Philosophy? What is it that appeals to you in tsuba?

[Winchester]

I am having a hard time articulating this, which is unusual for me. I appreciate many different schools, timeframes, imagery, aesthetics, iron characteristics...yet I can look at one high-end piece and it does not appeal to me as much as a lower-end piece and vice versa.

 

Just some Sunday morning musings, with a cuppa.

 

What say you?

[Matsunoki]

Hi Brian, the answer to this conundrum can (imo) be both very complex yet also very simple. It is best considered with no knowledge on the £price/value of whatever it is we are looking at. With the commercial aspect stripped away we can react more purely to the object sitting before us and that is then an honest “gut reaction” unswayed by £ or $. 

As a dealer for many years I was always interested to observe how potential customers approached objects. Some looked immediately at the price tag, others looked at the object first, often discussing it with no knowledge of the price. Of course value and price are different anyway but something can indeed be “high end” in £ but maybe not so high in our own unique undefined subconscious aesthetic/artistic preferences.

 

The appreciation of any art form is a highly personal thing and it is very elusive when you try to articulate it. Something may tug at us very strongly (and we don’t know why) yet leave someone else totally unmoved. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

…..just some vague wanderings on a Sunday.

[Dan tsuba]

Well, Brian.

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (darn it, Colin said the same thing a minute before I posted this-oh well!).

 

Since I can only afford low end pieces, what appeals to me most is the motif.  I try to purchase tsuba that have varying motifs and that were made in the Edo period, or perhaps before that period.

 

Then, when I receive the tsuba, I study it and try to ascertain the school (because sometimes I have purchased tsuba and the order was canceled).

 

Sometimes if I am lucky, the piece may have a mei.  Then I try to research that and find out who made the tsuba.

 

I learn new things from each of my tsuba!  Each one of my tsuba is unique and a beautiful work of art (at least in my eyes!).

 

Anyway, that’s what I do!

 

[GeorgeLuucas]

32 minutes ago, Matsunoki said:

The appreciation of any art form is a highly personal thing and it is very elusive when you try to articulate it. Something may tug at us very strongly (and we don’t know why) yet leave someone else totally unmoved. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

…..just some vague wanderings on a Sunday.

Very well put, Colin. This is the heart of collecting in my opinion. Finding those items that speak to us in some arcane way.

 

Personally I like tsuba that have nice patina, and depict something from the natural world. 

So I’ve got lots to choose from … I just hope to focus on recognizing quality, and keeping my collection/s focused. 
 

Cheers,

-Sam 

[BIG]

Brian for me is the historical background, the detective work collecting not only items but wisdom and infos, and of course the „Vorfreude“ some kind of a collection philosophie. A „some“ pieces collection gives me many books, articles and pdf`s..

So I think collecting is „a fleet in being“ and makes you stronger every day..

Other words if you are tired of moving foreward, you NEED a hobby..

 

[Franco D]

Quick thoughts,

 

Tsuba:

1. Has to be bushi, has to have had or have a bushi connection. Evidence that it was once mounted.

2. Maker, good makers make good tsuba. Signed or unsigned is fine. Good tsuba are easier to kantei (same for swords, right?). 

3. Material, any but has to have obvious quality. Has to have mass. 

4. Art, composition, shape/design, obviously forged. 

5. Size matters, 3" + . This is not to disparage smaller work, not at all, just personal preference. 

     a) it isn't necessary to own something to appreciate it (sorry tsuba dealers).

more:

6. Upper level work is much easier to research. 

 

Desire is the cause of suffering.

Edited September 29 by Franco D

[Spartancrest]

On 9/30/2024 at 4:45 AM, Franco D said:

1. Has to be bushi, has to have had or have a bushi connection. Evidence that it was once mounted.

You will get some backlash for this statement - [I totally agree with it though! If a Samurai never wore it, it was never a tsuba - it was an art piece! ]

This gives us a split - Do you like to collect "Art pieces in the shape of a tsuba" or "The real thing" [Yes I will get some backlash for that too!] Of course many real tsuba are works of art as well but for me a tsuba that has never been mounted or intended to be mounted has no "spirit" [JMHO]

 

I just saw a very high end auction conclude with some crazy prices paid  for the last lot of tsuba while other pieces sold for far less - I think some people just want to "win" regardless of what they are looking at. For those with bottomless pockets, The Inaugural Sale of the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection Achieved more than $22 Million at Bonhams in New York - and they had three such sales! [the prices were for the total contents of the sale not just the tsuba]

https://www.bonhams....Japanese-art/?page=6   For me finding a neglected bushi tsuba at a bargain price is far more thrilling than pumping thousands of dollars into something someone else thinks is what I should get, but I don't really see the value in.

[OceanoNox]

11 hours ago, Spartancrest said:

This gives us a split - Do you like to collect "Art pieces in the shape of a tsuba" or "The real thing"

For what it's worth, Nobuo Ogasawara wrote in the booklet "tsuba" that it should be observed mounted on a sword, since it's its primary purpose. I know there is a tsuba with a moon and the kashira has a bat on it: they are supposed to be mounted, so the bat looks like it's passing in front of the moon. In general, Mr. Ogawasara thinks one should look at tsuba as if the nakago ana was filled.

 

On a personal note, I can appreciate the artistry of kinko work (there is a kashira somewhere that has a castle inlaid, with a bridge leading to it, pure insanity), but I really enjoy the simplicity of tosho and kachushi tsuba. More recently, I have gained a new appreciation of the Onin and Heianjo tsuba. In the end, I go for the nice textures in iron (at least I would, if I could spare the money). If anything, many kinko tsuba are, to me, a bit too much.

[FlorianB]

For me it is the art itself, the combination of design and workmanship.

 

In all those years I saw a lot of Tsuba and interestingly most of them don’t appeal to me. I flip through the dealer’s sites or look at the offerings at meetings, but only a handful catch my eye.
If I buy pieces it is out of interest or for studies.

 

But every few years there’s one which arouse the ambition to possess them in a flash. I can’t tell why, maybe they look perfect to me. Those I esteem especially.

 

Best,
Florian

[Shuko]

For me it is a tsuba with character and obvious use (not workshop inflicted "age" chisel or punch marks) e.g. the "spirit" that Dale mentions above. Patina and the shape are very important to me and more often than not I prefer the cheaper shakudo tsuba with a brass rim (fukurin). 

 

The staggering diversity of what has been made means everyone will find something that appeals to them, whether they can afford it is another matter.

[Tim Evans]

What appeals to you in tsuba? 

• Collecting any art form is an adventure in seeing, so it is about developing my eye and my taste. i have been doing this for a long time and I am still learning new things
• Since this is a Japanese art form, then I think learning the Japanese standards for quality is important
• My focus is, what is good quality and taste from a Bushi perspective?
  • What we know about Bushi taste comes largely from Akiyama Kyusaku, who was a Tosa Samurai that was assigned to evaluate sword fittings for the Tosa Daimyo. After the Meiji Restoration he continued to study and write about sword fittings and published a lot of his ideas in a journal called Token Kai Shi. His last student was Dr. Torigoye Kazutaro, the Mentor and Sensei of Robert Haynes, who translated much of the Akiyama and Torigoye aesthetic ideas in Tsuba, an Aesthetic Study. Sasano Masayuki was also heavily influenced by Akiyama and published several work in English. 
  • Tsuba, an Aesthetic Study separates tsuba into Tsubako (mostly ironsmiths) and Kinko (mostly softmetal carvers). The tsuba of the Bushi were mostly made by the Tsubako. I usually do not have much interest in the Kinko, especially Edo period machibori, which was marketed to the Chonin class, the commoners below Bushi in status, but some wealthy enough to own short swords. The urban Chonin had their own aesthetic ideas, look up "iki" and "kwaii" and "kabuki" to get some sense of that. 
  • What appeals to me are the tsuba that I think would have been chosen by warriors. These will be rather quiet, sober and serious and are well made and strong. They may also show the influence of Wabicha (a type of tea ceremony) and may express Buddhist concepts, but not necessarily Buddhist symbolism. They can be very low key and it takes study to understand this type. To the uninitiated some of them look like iron mud pies.
• Regarding the quality question, there is an essay by me in the Downloads section that goes into what is quality in iron (Tsubako) tsuba.  

 

[ZH1980]

For me, the appeal of collecting tsuba lies in the history they hold and the thrill of the search. Good tsuba (for me) carry the story of their time, from the hands that crafted it to (ideally) the warrior who used it. Delving into the history of sword fittings gives me a sense of being connected to Japan’s cultural heritage in a tangible way; something I hope my Japanese children will eventually appreciate.
 

In addition to the history, I love the hunt —sifting through collections, auctions, or online markets, always on the lookout for a piece that stands out for its craftsmanship or as a good example of a school that is under-represented (or missing) from my collection. There’s something incredibly rewarding about uncovering a tsuba and knowing it’s found a new steward in its long journey.

[FlorianB]

9 hours ago, Tim Evans said:

been chosen by warriors. These will be rather quiet, sober and serious

That’s right generally, but I can imagine, that there were also warriors who chose more showy pieces because they could afford them and/or want to boast. Especially in pre-Edo times when social rules were not as strict as under the Tokugawa bakufu.

 

Florian