Any info on the theme or Mei of this fuchi and kashira?

[Souljah]

First of all I have to say a big thank you to the kind members in this forum who helped me a lot getting into the world of fittings, since I don't had a clue and of course still don't have. At least it's getting a little bit better with the vocabulary.

It's an exciting and interesting world and although I wanted to wait and don't hesitate my first buy, I couldnt wait and ... won an auction. Dont hold back and tell me your opinion on my first buy especially regarding the theme and the Mei. The description said it's Nobuie from Momoyama period, which it is definitely not. Thx to a dear member I already got to know that it's for Wakizashi and that two of the characters say "Mori Yuki"

[zanilu]

Nice buy, not bad at all.

 

Only the gold iroe on the fuchi dragon looks odd, but could be light shining on it!

 

Regards

Luca

[Souljah]

I don't know, the auction has just ended today and I don't have any other photos. I liked the details, the fine nanako and the theme that was different to others I've seen. I compared it to other that are listed in european shops and decided that the price is ok.

[Jake6500]

On 12/29/2024 at 6:11 AM, Souljah said:

I don't know, the auction has just ended today and I don't have any other photos. I liked the details, the fine nanako and the theme that was different to others I've seen. I compared it to other that are listed in european shops and decided that the price is ok.

 

Not a bad purchase, I saw this exact item and passed on it just because the design didn't speak to me on first glance but it is a solid pickup.

 

The nanako are pretty good as you have rightfully identified. As for the theme, I had a bit of a look into the piece. It's a tricky one to pin down definitively but I believe it depicts a rat holding some treasure. Rats were a common depiction in the Edo period, however I did find the following which seems to link the rat and its treasure together:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nezumi_Kozō

 

TLDR; There was a bandit in the late Edo Period nicknamed "Nezumi" (Rat) Kozo who famously burglarised samurai estates and made off with their treasure. He was portrayed in a number of Kabuki plays as a Japanese Robin Hood type character and bandits such as he, or the infamous Goemon Ishikawa were often the subject of theatre or Japanese arts.

 

Had I known this possible backstory for the theme I might have considered bidding on this piece myself as it makes the design a bit more appealing to me. That said, I'm not a huge fan of the dragon and the linework is not of a very high quality in my opinion. It's a very nice and affordable piece for a beginner (unless the price of the auction went up since I last looked), with a possible connection to Japanese folklore or theatre. Looking at something made circa 1850 at the very end of the Edo period. 

 

Personally, I think whilst it isn't the highest quality I wouldn't mind a piece like this in my collection for the right price.

 

Of course, this information is still speculative. You should try to see if the mei can be tracked to pre-existing examples from a particular artist or to the school of craftmanship (Mori?) so that the piece can be more accurately dated!

 

[Matsunoki]

Doesn’t look like a rat to me. The face is more Tengu.

I think the theme is simply assorted mythical beasts….and there are many to choose from!

[Jake6500]

2 hours ago, Matsunoki said:

Doesn’t look like a rat to me. The face is more Tengu.

I think the theme is simply assorted mythical beasts….and there are many to choose from!

 

Could be assorted mythical beasts, that is the other direction my mind went with the dragon and what looks like a phoenix...

 

But I definitely don't think that's a Tengu Colin! That thing looks to have whiskers and a tail and little to nothing indicating human traits...

 

Then again it is upright and holding an object. I can also see where you interpreted the long nose so maybe you're right. Your idea also has the merit of being simpler to interpret, Occam's Razor and all. The dragon and bird also wouldn't fit in any obvious way into my proposed theme either.

[Souljah]

Thx so far, could be a rat...

On this one it looks like a rat head, an elephant head on a Fantasy body and some kind of a bird.

I don't know what the heck this is...?

And this looks like a dragon and some kind of water deamon with a fish.

[Jake6500]

The weird blobby lookin' thing is probably an octopus (I think)! The bird is most likely a phoenix.

 

I agree about the elephant head.

 

It's probably of no relevance but I did find this neat story about an elephant during the Edo Period:

 

https://www.morethan...et-Japanese-emperor/

[Matsunoki]

Google “yokai” and I think you’ll get the idea. Yokai (mythical beings) are very numerous and combine many different body parts from all manner of things that don’t exist. You can have the head of a tiger on the body of a dragon with the tail of a snake with bits covered in fish scales etc etc.

Dont try and use Western logic to identify them!

[Shugyosha]

Hi Michael,

 

The mei is:

乙柳軒 - Otsuryuken

味墨鋪随 - Miboku Nobuyuki

Markus Sesko's Signatures of Japanese Sword Fittings Artists says he was 3rd Hamano generation and working between 1756 and 1793.

[Shugyosha]

The elephant-headed creature might be a Baku: https://en.wikipedia...iki/Baku_(mythology)

[Matsunoki]

Have fun…..

https://yokai.com

[Souljah]

2 hours ago, Shugyosha said:

Hi Michael,

 

The mei is:

乙柳軒 - Otsuryuken

 

味墨鋪随 - Miboku Nobuyuki

Markus Sesko's Signatures of Japanese Sword Fittings Artists says he was 3rd Hamano generation and working between 1756 and 1793.

 

Thx for your help and to all for all the opinions on this fuchi and kashira. I liked the Artwork and I guess the mei is not bad. Not a fail at least.

 

2 hours ago, Matsunoki said:

Have fun…..

https://yokai.com

I think that's probably gonna be right.