Question on tsuba identification

[Iaido dude]

Any thoughts on this smallish tsuba? 6.2 com, 0.6 cm thick. Rounded square mini. I don’t recognize the motif.

 

 

[cluckdaddy76]

I believe it is coming up for auction soon, I have seen it somewhere during my poking this week. I am unsure on this one and being a smaller size, it took away most of my interest. It looks like it is not cast and fairly well made, but really not sure on school or age. Also curious on anyone's thoughts on motif aside from possible school/time period, my guess on that right now might be silkworms. 

 

Jason

[George KN]

I like it! Reminds me of thorns. 

 

It's definitely been fitted to quite a few different swords judging by the nakago ana. It almost looks like there's two sekigane on the bottom of the ana too.

[Iaido dude]

Whenever I see elements of multiple provincial schools, I suspect later Edo period tsuba that are no longer “pure“ in their features. The small size would normally make me think Kanayama, but the lack of tekkotsu argue against this. The surface treatment is simply to perfect, and without that Momoyama quality of Wabi and Sabi The large seppa-dai looks like Shoami. However, the motif itself has more of a Higo or Alaska influence. I called these guards generic Edo for want of a better description. And so as not to get too hung up on categorical names. I think that thorns and clouds are about as close to describing what is otherwise abstract.

[ROKUJURO]

2 hours ago, Iaido dude said:

...... However, the motif itself has more of a Higo or Alaska influence.....

I am not too sure about the school or tradition, but I bet it is not Alaska! 

[Iaido dude]

Hahaha! That's speech recognition for you. It does kind of look like snow though...albeit a bit thorny.

 

When approaching motifs and designs in tsuba, I always ask myself why samurai facing life and death moment to moment would want their tsuba and weapons of war decorated in such a manner. What is the power of these symbols in the stark reality of a warrior class? I can't quite fathom why this tsuba's design is meaningful to those who mounted it time and again on their blades, as we presume from examining the nakago-ana. There are sections on the symbolic meaning of clouds and snow in "Symbols of Japan," which is my go to for such information. However, neither thorns nor cocoons appear in the index. 

 

Speaking of the nakago-ana, Eckardt Kremers has hypothesized that the first generations of the Akasaka lineage were from the workship of a Shoami master associated with a signature "figure 8" appearance of the nakago-ana as a result of the way they did the fitting onto swords. The features that were appropriated for the Akasaka tsuba included those of the Kyoto, Owari, and Shoami styles. Very interesting consideration with this tsuba. Could it be a later generation unsigned Akasaka?

[Iaido dude]

OK, now I'm seeing this motif everywhere. This one is an Akasaka tsuba on Jauce with a motif interpreted as mist (kaskumi), which symbolized the ethereal nature of nature and existence. Now we are getting somewhere.

 

 

[Spartancrest]

  

5 hours ago, Iaido dude said:

now I'm seeing this motif everywhere.

   Me too!

[FlorianB]

Obviously the design (itomaki consisting out of snow/clouds/mist) is based on the Akasaka-style, but the  ko-niku mimi and the somewhat clumsy seppa-dai speak against this school.

Higo would be more exactly in execution.

 

I suppose an unknown minor workshop trying to copy the mentioned style.

[ROKUJURO]

It seems that similar design elements were used by several schools, even OWARI. I bought the second TSUBA as AKASAKA.
 

[Iaido dude]

Thanks gentlemen. The first tsuba above actually has geese. 

 

Also, thanks Jean for pointing out that I miss-spelled kasumi (mist). 

[Iaido dude]

11 hours ago, FlorianB said:

Obviously the design (itomaki consisting out of snow/clouds/mist) is based on the Akasaka-style, but the  ko-niku mimi and the somewhat clumsy seppa-dai speak against this school.

Higo would be more exactly in execution.

 

I suppose an unknown minor workshop trying to copy the mentioned style.

 

Would you kindly post some examples of Higo guards with these features? I did notice the composition of itomaki, although I’m not sure how to put the two motifs together. 

[FlorianB]

Oops,  I haven't, I just replied to the Higo notion above.

 

There are Ito-maki on Higo-Tsuba to be seen, but I know only examples without ji-sukashi:

 

A cloud- or snow-design selection from Higo will show the obvious difference of execution to the one in question:

 

After all - not Higo.

 

 

[Iaido dude]

I don't think it is Higo. It feels like influence from the ateleir of a Kyoto master (the legendary Kariganeya Hikobei?) creating "proto-Akasaka" style guards as Eckhard Kremers has postulated. This master was producing some Shoami-influenced guards with massive seppa-dai ("clumsy" or full of niku?) as in this tsuba we have been discussing, a kind of transitional style that then became the kind of guards we recognize as characteristically Akasaka in design motifs and construction. Or, as I originally suggested, it is a “generic” later Edo guard. 

 

Florian, I have been researching the symbolic meaning of itomaki since, again, it would only make sense to have this motif on tosogu if it had some meaningfulness to samurai and buke. It is represented in numerous of the arts and crafts, predominantly fabric, which makes sense since a thread spool may symbolize the creation of kimono, etc. I cannot find anything helpful in the books and on-line resources. Do you have any that you can offer?

 

This tsuba with wide and long seppa-dai and irregular hitsu-ana is attributed to Sandai Akasaka. 

 

[FlorianB]

Steve,

have You tried shippō 七宝? The design is identical (?) with itomaki, but means "7 treasures of Buddhism".

 

[Iaido dude]

Terrific, Florian. This now makes entire sense. Here is what I found on the buddhist meaning which explains why this symbol would appear on a tsuba. 

 

［七宝］ ( shichi-hō or shippō): Also, seven treasures or seven kinds of gems. Precious substances mentioned in the sutras. The list differs among the Buddhist scriptures. According to the Lotus Sutra, the seven are gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, pearl, and carnelian. In the “Treasure Tower” (eleventh) chapter of the sutra, the treasure tower adorned with these seven kinds of treasures appears from beneath the earth. In a letter known as On the Treasure Tower, Nichiren associates the seven kinds of treasures that adorn the treasure tower with the seven elements of practice, writing: “It is the treasure tower adorned with the seven kinds of treasures—hearing the correct teaching, believing it, keeping the precepts, engaging in meditation, practicing assiduously, renouncing one’s attachments, and reflecting on oneself.” 

[ROKUJURO]

A rather plain ITOMAKI (or SHIPPO) design TSUBA:
 

[Iaido dude]

This style shows up quite frequently. I just never really understood the symbolism. My narrow collecting interest is tsuba with religious iconography. So, the shippo motif is definitely something to add. 

[GRC]

These two are a Japanese concept called "komorebi" 木漏れ日... dappled sunlight "leaking" through trees.

Either looking up through the branches and/or the resulting dancing light and shadows cast on the ground.

To my knowledge, it's a motif whose conceptualization in relation to tsuba sukashi, was first realized by Bruce Kirkpatrick.

I discovered the correct name for it (komorebi) through some extensive searching on Japanese sites... and some luck.

 

You won't see that motif stated by major papering organizations because it doesn't fall into their narrow set of pre-existing labels.

As with all papering institutions, if it doesn't fit into an existing label, make it fit... because it must have a label... 

 

Bruce and I have many tsuba from this un-named maker, and hope to put together a paper on his works some day 

He's been chasing down this rabbit hole for years... I happened to stumble on the same path and am now going down the same rabbit hole. lol

 

The rest of the tsuba on this post (other than the shippo ones) are showing clouds and/or clouds with geese, a much more common motif that was produced by many tsuba makers for centuries.

[GRC]

Oh, and NOT Akasaka... these predate their work for certain.

 

Again, "Akasaka" or "Ko-Akasaka" were just labels of convenience because they didn't know what else to call them.

 

The more I look at the existing papering and labeling system derived from Akiyama, Torigoye, Sasano, Haynes, the NBTHK (all of the same lineage of thought and categorizations), the more it "sheds light" on the tragedy that it is... 

... 

[GRC]

hmmm... anyone notice something unusual to the left of this post? 

[Bugyotsuji]

Not wishing to prove controversial, with added apologies for the side-stepping, but here is an example of a Netsuke demonstrating (in my opinion) the use of a drill to create a pattern or design. Was there a period when this kind of work was fashionable, I wonder, in which the actual meaning of the design was incidental or even secondary?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Iaido dude]

1 hour ago, GRC said:

hmmm... anyone notice something unusual to the left of this post? 

Very nice, Glen. I now "see the light" shining through the leaves. I hope that you and Bruce produce that paper on what is a sublime motif.

 

What are your thoughts, though, on the guard I originally posed for this post? It is small and relatively thick, endowed with a large seppa-dai, and without tekkotsu it would appear. If not Akasaka, then which category does it resemble the most--fully acknowledging that it may have features of a number of styles? The "komorebi" 木漏れ日 appear not to follow rules of symmetry, which imbues them with a wonderful sense of organic movement, dynamism, and the beauty of the natural world. 

[GRC]

Hi Steve.

Glad you can see the more organic asymmetry of this particular komorebi motif. 

Looks like it was done in a pretty narrow window of time too… late Momoyama to early Edo.

Almost as soon as the Edo period kicked in, with all its regulations that enforced conformity, out of fear of having the unification fall apart due to subversive “thinking outside the box”, and individual expressionism… this type of Momoyama “looseness” was quickly suppressed.

[GRC]

Steve, re your tsuba that started this thread:

the patina seems to have been lost or abraded off at some point in its history, which doesn’t help.

But it’s small size, focus on symmetry (I would almost certainly say clouds), and lack of any evidence of hand forging on the plate (no bones or hammer marks), place it squarely in the time in the Edo period when tsuba production was a sort of “free for all”. This was done to meet the demand from the growing merchant class who could openly wear wakizashi or tanto, but not katana and who now had more buying power.

So this tsuba could have been made by any blacksmith at the time, who was busy producing tsuba of just about any style imaginable… 

…and not one of the expensive “jewelry” type machi-bori tsuba… which likely went mostly to the merchant class based on their being mostly wakizashi sized tsuba. Only the  large sized ones would have gone to the richer samurai who were basically bureaucrats at that point anyway.

 

Frankly almost everything else that was being made during the mid to late Edo period were just repeats from a “generic” product line to some degree or another… mostly derivative copies of widely accepted patterns, even if it was a higher end piece from Choshu, Bushu, Kinai or Akasaka for example.

Tsuba at this point were mostly made by craftsmen rather than “artists” so to speak. Almost a “paint by numbers” kind of situation.

Even the high end “art” tsuba of the late Edo period were mostly derivative copies of well known paintings and motifs… just beautifully executed with opulence, by very skilled jeweller-type craftsman.

[GRC]

1 hour ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Was there a period when this kind of work was fashionable, I wonder, in which the actual meaning of the design was incidental or even secondary?

@Bugyotsuji Did you notice that the netsuke you posted is not just a pattern, but is actually a rain dragon surrounded by clouds?

 

As far as I can tell, the drilling technique started in the Momoyama period (as was just about everything that is tsuba-related). Perhaps from gaining some new tech and influence from open trade with westerners and continental Asia… the the Japanese ran with it and perfected it (which seems to be their “thing”)

 

I have seen very few tsuba that have what appear to be random holes…

pretty much every time, there is a definitive intent to make a pattern or design using the the tools and techniques available.

There’s pretty much nothing “random” or incidental when working with steel… sure there’s the occasional “happy accident”, but it’s a very deliberate process, filled with planning and mindful execution. So nearly 100% of the time, the pattern you see was intentional, not just secondary.

 

I honestly think you’d almost have to go back to the stone age or earlier to get things that were just incidental patterns created by humans. 

[Iaido dude]

I started by calling it “generic Edo” for all of the reasons that you discussed. The size might suggest that it was made for wakizashi. The size and weight make it ideal for my practice iaito because I use a 30” blade that handles best with a smaller, but heavier  tsuba mounted to shift the balance point closer to the tsuba. I can’t see putting a piece of high end art on my iaito, but the motif has to be meaningful. For $65 it was a good buy for my specific needs. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Drilling in iron went back, way back to the beginnings of Japan time, for kabuto ‘hoshi’ rivets. Some armorers, as we know, produced tsuba too, and some went on to specialize in them. I am imagining a time when hand- or foot-driven drilling technique moved for whatever reason over into the tsuba world. And Nakago were of even thicker iron, closer to tsuba thickness.
 

‘Random’ may be overstating it, but playful it certainly must have been, from the imagination through the planning into the execution. Some of the examples above allow your brain to flip-flop flash between positive and negative sukashi, in a  “Now you see it, now you don’t” cameo.

[ROKUJURO]

5 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Drilling in iron went back, way back to the beginnings of Japan time, for kabuto ‘hoshi’ rivets. .....

Hi Piers,

that is very interesting! Is there any evidence available? As far as I am informed, "cutting action" drills are a very late invention, while "friction action" drills go indeed back to the middle stone-age. So, in my experience, a friction drill does not work on iron. Instead, making holes with small punches was quite easy and did not even necessitate heating up the metal if it was thin enough. Drilling in a TSUBA blank or a NAKAGO certainly requires the use of a modern cutting drill.

As work traces clearly show, earlier TSUBAKO mostly used chisels and files to create their designs. I have seen some AKASAKA TSUBA where the chisel strokes had not been filed down, probably as design elements. Small holes were always punched as you still can see on KO-TOSHO and KO-KACHUSHI TSUBA.

The first cutting drills in Europe were of the "spoon design", but because of the properties of the steel used, they could not be made with small diameters, say 3 to 4 millimeters, and they only worked in wood.

Bone, ivory and related materials could be drilled with fine friction drills, working in two directions.

Fine holes in iron are extremely difficult to make with traditional tools, so I would really like to know how - as an example - the fine saw-cut designs of the ITO TSUBA school were made, and when. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Well Jean, now you have poised two or three very good questions.

A couple of years back I translated some research done on Japanese armo(u)r. A line in a written record from about 1570 caught my eye, where the writer mentions visiting an armor workshop where the overwhelming impression was workers drilling holes in metal. As I recall, it specifically mentioned them working with 錐 ‘Kiri’, which is not a punch. 
If anyone knows more detail about this, I too would be interested to learn.

So…

Q.1. Were the holes in armor plates drilled or punched?