This is not a tribute...

[Ford Hallam]

For the last couple of months I've been working on a series of 3 tsuba that explore variations of texture and colour. I find the early Umetada work by Myoju and his son, Shigenari III, to be very appealing in this respect. As a way of gaining a more instinctive feeling of these qualities I've created my own interpretations of examples of theirs.

 

If you're interested you can see the whole series here.

 

This is the first one I made, it wasn't based on an existing work but was rather merely inspired by the overall aesthetic.

 

 

This one is my expression of a well know Myoju piece, one of his most attractive in my opinion. I made a number of minor adjustments to the design as well as following my own instincts as regards the final colouring.

 

...and a view of the back shot in different lighting conditions.

 

 

If you'd like to see some images of this tsuba being inlaid please follow this link to the Iron Brush forum.

 

thanks for looking.

 

regards,

ford

[Steve Waszak]

Exquisite work, Ford. I particularly like the first one. Very Shoin Tea in feeling... ;o) Thanks for posting these...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Lee Bray]

Is that first one edible?

It certainly looks delicious.

[Eric H]

Superb ... what impressed me above all are the gentle gradiations of color, must be very difficult to create...this series is once more a proof that contemporary Tsuba are valid.

Eric

[Steve Waszak]

this series is once more a proof that contemporary Tsuba are valid.

Eric

 

lol... You're going to go THERE again?

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Markus]

[Eric H]

lol... You're going to go THERE again?

The big "crossing the blades" is well worth to reread from time to time...

Eric

[ironron]

Amazing skills

[masterofweapons]

Exceptional work.

[John A Stuart]

Very beautiful tsuba. That's what it's all about. Master craft. John

[Bazza]

lol... You're going to go THERE again?

The big "crossing the blades" is well worth to reread from time to time...

Eric

How about "The tossing of the discoids"???

 

Truly inspiring work Ford, truly. I hope loaves of bread are tumbling to you by the truckload...

 

Bestests,

BaZZa.

[Ford Hallam]

Thank you all very, very much, Gents, for your kind compliments

 

A response like this is certainly a most welcome bit of icing on the cake after the long, solitary weeks spent wrestling with these works.

 

Most appreciated.

 

best regards,

 

ford

[sanjuro]

Ford

 

Firstly I must agree this is truly beautiful work. A question for you though........ Why do you put sekigane in the nakago ana of your tsuba? The use of sekigane is surely to resize the nakago ana. Since these are newly made pieces, then the nakago ana has surely not yet required resizing in order to mount it on a sword.

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Keith,

 

thank you for the kind compliment

 

Interesting question re; seki-gane...I was wondering if someone would question my use of them.

 

As with all the parts that make up the finished works I use the saki-gane for their aesthetic value. I don't always add them but in this series I was consciously emulating an specific aesthetic. That they are ostensibly functional is of less importance to me, as an artist, than what they ( the seki-gane) bring to the overall expression.

 

I alluded to this in the thread on contemporary tsuba. The function of tsuba is the same as that of any art-form; ie: artistic expression. I attempted to show that this has probably always been a significant (if not primary) part of the tradition and for me, today, the actual history of the tsuba itself becomes part of what inspires my own contemporary expressions in this tradition.

 

In a nut shell; we tend to appreciate old, gnarly seki-gane in tsuba because they speak of age. I've simply used that vocabulary to express a part of my own aesthetic. I've treated the seki-gane in the same way I treated the choice of alloy, the way I treat the surface, the colouring...everything is considered as part of he whole effect. This is tsuba as art...in my opinion.

 

A number of schools of the past finished their tsuba with sekigane in place. Those of the Suruga are so "designed" as to make it clear they were considered part of the overall look of the finished piece. The Tanaka school, however, must get the prize for really elaborating their pre-fitted seki-gane. It's probably a kantei point, as is the Suruga one.

 

I've simply followed their lead but chosen a more subdued, wabi/sabi ( :? ) expression in the way I've applied mine. That rough and haphazard look is no accident

 

Thanks for giving me a chance to elaborate,

 

regards,

 

ford

[sanjuro]

Ford

 

Thanks for the explanation. I can relate to your reasons for the use of seki-gane, and I didnt think for even a moment that the haphazard look of them was in any way accidental. Hence my question in the first instance. They do not look 'out of place' which is a tribute to both your craftsmanship and your resonance with the overall aesthetic.

[Lee Bray]

After eating the first one, which was delicious by the way, I keep coming back to the third.

It's now set as my desktop wallpaper so I don't have to keep using NMB's bandwidth to view it.

 

Would you happen to have a frontal shot with the raking light?

I just love the colouration it shows.

No worries if not.

[Ford Hallam]

Cheers Keith, thanks for the further compliments.

 

Hi Lee,

 

glad you're enjoying them :D ...perhaps I should bring out a line of tsuba shaped chocolate biscuits

 

At the moment we're still trying to get some better images as I'm not really satisfied with these yet.

Hopefully I'll have some new images prepared by the week-end.

 

regards,

 

ford

[John A Stuart]

You know Ford, The two with the shakudo inlay really give me the feeling of Hayama tsuba. I know they used sahari, mostly in iron plate, but, some in soft metal plate. I was surprised at the file used on the inlay, I don't know why, but, expected something really fine. I suppose as you removed metal and got closer to the plate's surface you used abrasives. Just curious, when you have the inlay where you want it, do you put the tsuba in a furnace briefly to meld the inlay? John

[Ford Hallam]

Hi John,

 

there is only one tsuba with shakudo inlay :D ...that the front and the back. Perhaps the different lighting set ups created some confusion.

 

Not sure what you mean but I don't use any files on my inlay work at all ...you may be thinking of another tsuba maker.

 

If you follow these images here, on my forum, you'll see how I go about it.

 

All true inlay is purely a mechanical setting. No heat is used at all. In any case, the shakudo has a higher melting point than the shinchu so that would melt away first.

 

I assume you mean Hazama tsuba, in that case, where the sahari is melted into prepared cavities in a manner similar to champleve enamelling, the excess is most easily filed off and then polished level with stones.

[John A Stuart]

Hazama, yes. I see the tagane lying on the tsuba. I thought it was a file, my mistake. No heat, thanks. John