Tsuba translation - mei, nengo and hakogaki

[Ray Singer]

Hi all, would greatly appreciate translation assistance with a tsuba I found last night. It came in a deluxe, fitted box with hakogaki. Please see photos below...

 

Thank you,

Ray

 

[John A Stuart]

I think this is by Ikkin 一琴, Tenpo ku nen 1838, not sure. The signature does not match my examples so either I am wrong, decidely possible, or it has been copied or made by another artist.

The first generation took the name Ikkin in 1838 so can't be the subsequent generation. He studied under Goto Ichijo and died 1863.

John

[Ray Singer]

Thanks John, I checked but was not able to find a match for Ikkin. I did see some examples of Goto Ichijo with what appeared to be the same kao though. Was this kao used by anyone else in his mon?

 

Best regards,

Ray

[John A Stuart]

Hi Ray, I have seen a few examples of Goto Ichijo's kao which follows like most Goto types, that being an embellished circular element. I must say I have not seen one that resembles this before, by any artist. John

[Ray Singer]

Hi John, I was looking through a friend's copy of the Kinko Jiten when I saw the kao. Unfortunately I am back home now and don't have that reference, otherwise would send a scan. I was looking under both Ikkin and Ichijo when I saw the kao, so perhaps someone here has a copy and could post an image of that page?

 

Best,

Ray

[John A Stuart]

Here is an Funada Ikkin tsuba. http://art.thewalters.org/viewwoa.aspx?id=17215

and another http://art.thewalters.org/viewwoa.aspx?id=31511

An Ichijo tsuba w/ kao http://art.thewalters.org/viewwoa.aspx?id=4515

They don't match the work and the signatures are different. If I have read it right Ikkin is well inscribed on his tsuba and easy to read. Ichijo is more flourished with his signature and is harder to make out. I don't think either of these artists made this tsuba. John

[docliss]

To resurrect an old thread …

 

Would any kind member care to comment upon the attached hakogaki. I am interested in identifying the source of this.

 

With thanks, John L.

[Nobody]

一琴作 - Ikkin saku

天保九戌春 - Spring in 1838

赤銅木瓜形折返し耳 - Shakudo, Mokko-gata, Orikaeshi-mimi

あらし地両室(櫃?)あり - Arashi-ji (rough surface?), Ryohitsu ari

竹の片切彫 - Take (Bamboo) no Katakiri-bori

乙巳葉月 - August in 1965

紋洋 - Mon'yo (reading?, maybe 神谷紋洋)

[docliss]

Thank you so much for your prompt reply to my request, but I would still like to identify the origin of this hakogaki. Is any member able to identify the seal, I wonder - perhaps of the Museum of Japanese Sword Fittings? John L.

[k morita]

Hi,

The red stamp says MON-YO.紋洋

MONYO is a pen-name(Gago) of Kamiya(family name) Mon'ichiro who was a great appraiser in sword-fittings. 神谷紋一郎

[docliss]

Thank you very much, Morita, for that information. John L.

[Ludolf Richter]

Hi Ray,I have more than 20 examples of Funada Ikkin in my Tosogu database,all but one with the standard Mei plus Kao.One Fuchi-Kashira-pic shows "Your" Mei and "Your" Kao.My guess is that the 2 pieces had been made bei a student or his daughter,who later became Ikkin 2 (then using nearly the same Mei and Kao as her father).Ludolf

[docliss]

Ludolf, thank you for your as always valuable contribution. As a clarification, the Ikkin tsuba is now mine, having recently been purchased from Ray. But do not the dates of 1838 and 1848 on these two fittings exclude Ikkin II, who was born in 1840, and only used the Ikkin name after 1864? And was he ever appointed Hokkyo? John L.

[Ludolf Richter]

I had remembered to have read ,Ikkin 2 was his daughter.That may be not true!According to Kobayashi Terumasa ("Tosogu of the Edo Period"),Ikkin 2 was his eldest son,who normally signed Yoshimori Ikkin (childhood name of Yutaro,later called himself Shosuke),who was not his father's but Hashimoto Isshi's student.So this Mei+Kao is definitely not from the Nidai,but may be from one of Funada Ikkin's students (Kobayashi Terumasa:"He earned the income capable of having two pupils in addition to supporting three people",whatever that means).The problem remains,that the one example is from 1838 (when the master was 26 years old) and the other from 1848.So either a student remained in his studio after having finished his education or the 2 pieces had been made by another person (his wife??!).Ludolf

[docliss]

... or by the shodai himself? John L.

[Ludolf Richter]

Hi John,you are right,but this does not answer the question,why to change the standard name-kanji and the Kao for only a few pieces.He could have taken a different Go,like Goto Ichijo,when working with iron,or sign in Sosho.I hope he was not drunken,as he often was,like some authors are stating!Although I didn't find any info about his wife,one can assume,that in case of a top-student like he was,she may have been,as usual, a daughter of one of his two teachers and so be familiar with this business.Ludolf

[docliss]

Dear Ludolf

 

There appear to be two possible explanations for the mei and kao on my tsuba. That it is a gimei Ikkan tsuba, erroneously attributed to Ikkin I by Kamiya Mon’ichiro, or that it is a shoshin tsuba by Ikkin I, using an alternative kao, very similar to that illustrated as an alternative kao for Gōtō Ichijō on pp. 24c and d of Kinkō Meikan.

 

John L:

[Ludolf Richter]

Hi John,there are some pics in my database with that Kao,sometimes used by Goto Ichijo (normally when signing with "Hakuo"): nearly identical!Again I speculate:Funada Ikkin's wife made the Mei but signed with her father's Kao.There are examples,especially with swordsmiths,when the Mei was chiselled by a son or student,when the master was not capable to do so,eg.from drinking-habit.Forget the Gimei -theory,because my pic with the same kind of writing is from a Shoshin-Mei and Yours is papered by an known expert!Ludolf

[docliss]

Thanks again, Ludolf, but if the tsuba is signed Ikkin by his daughter then it is surely, by definition, gimmei? John L.

[Ludolf Richter]

Daimei and not Gimei!Ludolf

[docliss]

Thank you, Ludolf, a term I was not familiar with. John L.