stenciled samegawa inlay work

[Tcat]

Wasnt sure where to post this but thought someone might get a kick out of it or be able to enlighten me as to its origins. Koshirea is for a sunnobi tanto. The fittings are iron and I believe it to be Higo. At first glance quite subdued and in regular indoor light you dont see much, however under UV something quite interesting emerges. Apologies in advance for the cameraphone quality.

 

In the two comparison photos the upper shot was taken with standard indoor lighting, the lower with a uv enhanced lamp. The details were taken under uv also. The inlay work is far more subdued in normal lighting and disappears entirely in shadows.

 

Has anyone seen this kind of thing done before? I think this is Edo period...opinions?

[Lorenzo]

You say it is inlayed? Seems a thick drawing on skin instead.

I have never seen this kind of "sukashi" drawing on skin; it seems snake and not same to me

For the way it is done (contour traced) and the surface hosting it (skin) it makes me thing about a tattoo... an "irezumi saya" :D

[Ford Hallam]

Looks like same to me. The design looks to be painted urushi, over the polished same which was previously lacquered and polished smooth.

[IanB]

Lorenzo, No, not snakeskin, but that kind of fine-grained 'blue' same you get on naval scabbards. It looks as if the artist has fastened the skin on the saya then cut away the denticles where he wanted the black areas, before coating everything in black lacquer and polishing it all smooth. What a clever technique! No doubt when it was done it showed up much more clearly. I assume the untouched same has darkened with age and handling so that the contrast is now minimal. You might try a very gentle cleaning of the saya to see if it restores the contrast. I would try something like white spirit or turpentine substitute on a cotton-bud (earbud) in an inconspicuous place to see if it has any effect. If that doesn't work, try alcohol. If neither have any effect, leave well alone.

A friend of mine was once shown a black saya by an artist which was covered in kamon, also done in black. He said you couldn't see anything special about the saya until it caught the light when the kamon suddenly appeared. Now that is subtle.

Ian Bottomley

[Tcat]

Lorenzo, No, not snakeskin, but that kind of fine-grained 'blue' same you get on naval scabbards.

 

Thanks Ian, this is definately fine grained blue samegawa and not snakeskin, sorry Lorenzo! I believe the technique to have been excecuted just as you described..

 

It looks as if the artist has fastened the skin on the saya then cut away the denticles where he wanted the black areas, before coating everything in black lacquer and polishing it all smooth. What a clever technique!

 

Exactly what I thought...

 

No doubt when it was done it showed up much more clearly. I assume the untouched same has darkened with age and handling so that the contrast is now minimal.

I am not sure about this. I wonder why the same would have darkened to such a degree despite being protected by several clear coats of urushi...?

 

 

You might try a very gentle cleaning of the saya to see if it restores the contrast. I would try something like white spirit or turpentine substitute on a cotton-bud (earbud) in an inconspicuous place to see if it has any effect. If that doesn't work, try alcohol. If neither have any effect, leave well alone.

Not going to touch it... theres no dirt/grime on the saya. This is a trick of lacquer not grime.

 

 

Looks like same to me. The design looks to be painted urushi, over the polished same which was previously lacquered and polished smooth.

 

Ford, I believe that actually the black lines are where the same has been removed then lacquered over. It is more obvious with the thing in hand however. I include a final pic for interest.

[Lorenzo]

It surely is an interesting object.