Race across the Uji River (1180) tsuba and fuchi-kashira

[Jesta]

I recently picked up this set, and went down a bit of a rabbit hole trying to get a full picture of the details depicted. I thought that I would share what I have found. There are other posts referencing this motif, but I didn’t find one that gave details… Happy to have any other details that I have missed, and shares from anyone else who has tosogu on the same theme. 

 

The set

The tsuba is almost circular. It is shakudō, with a nanako ground, and chiseled in relief with details in gold. 

The tsuba shows the race across the Uji River. 

The fuchi-kashira show samurai at a Shinto shrine.

The Race Across the Uji River (1180)

This set has the depiction of a scene from the 14th-century military epic “The Tale of the Heike” (Heike monogatari). In the telling of this part of the story the Taira army were chasing a rebel army that had been raised by Prince Mochihito. 

 

The two armies met at the site of a bridge across the Uji river. The following confrontation became known as the First Battle of Uji (1180).

 

The rebels stripped the bridge back to its bare bones (see the top left of the tsuba) forcing the armies to confront each other in an archery duel, which tended to favour the rebels as they had warrior monks on their side who used powerful bows that could penetrate the wooden shields used at the time.

 

The battle wore on until sunset with the broken bridge as a chokepoint leading to stalemate. As the sun set, a retainer on the Taira side suggested that they should try to ford the river or go around to find another route. The river was swollen by heavy rains, but Sasaki Takatsuna and Kajiwara Kagesue decided to lead a contingent of 300 samurai across the river to engage with the enemy on land.

 

The two of them rushed to get across the river first with Sasaki Takatsuna cheating a little by calling out to his rival that his mount’s saddle girth was loose, allowing him to ride ahead while Kajiwara Kagesue checked to see if his saddle was secure.

 

On the tsuba we can see Sasaki Takatsuna and Kajiwara Kagesue, racing to get across the river. The position and depiction of Kajiwara Kagesue on the right is very closely mirrored by this diptych held by the Walters Art Museum. We can see Kajiwara Kagesue holding his bowstring in his mouth in the same way, and his horse is twisting to his left too.

 

Holding the bowstring in his mouth seems to be a common trait in depictions of Kajiwara Kagesue as he crosses the river. 

 

The reverse of the tsuba has a group of three samurai on the opposite bank of the river, with the bridge in the upper right. They are presumably the opposing army, and seem to be gesturing to their enemies across the river. 

 

It’s hard to say exactly what action from the story is being depicted on the fuchi-kashira. The kashira shows a samurai at a shrine which could be related to the fact that Prince Mochihito had stayed at the Mii-dera temple before moving his forces to Uji. The fuchi shows samurai (possibly the main characters) preparing or resting next to a tied up horse.

 

This battle seems to have been a popular moment of the story for depiction on tosogu and other art forms, with examples such as those above (and many others that have been shared on this board in the past), and this kozuka in the MFA Boston also showing the beginning of the race across the river. 

 

This screen held at the Met shows another view of the start of the race to cross the river, with the broken bridge in the background. 

  

Sources:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/78537 

https://art.thewalters.org/object/95.181/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Uji_(1180) 

 

 

[ZH1980]

Beautiful!

[Jake6500]

A very famous scene that appears throughout the Edo Period in Tosogu pieces Justyn! You see this motif a lot on fuchigashira and on the occasional tsuba as well.

 

Here is an example from my collection that I acquired not too long ago signed "Hamano Noriyoshi". You should hopefully recognise similarities from your own such as the bow in the mouth of the riding samurai on your tsuba!

 

 

 

The samurai should be Kajiwara Kagesue riding Minamoto no Yoritomo's horse. Here is a woodblock for comparison:

 

[Spartancrest]

10 hours ago, Jake6500 said:

A very famous scene that appears throughout the Edo Period in Tosogu pieces

But please don't fall for this "Hamano" mass production! 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/286451162808   or   https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/286451162659  or https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/365486205999   or  https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/387824172249    well I guess you get the idea!

 

        I don't even trust this one with papers - https://www.seiyudo.com/tu-050320.htm I have seen half a dozen with iroe that look just as good at first glance. 

 

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/18980/lot/15/a-bakumatsu-shakudo-tsuba-late-19thearly-20th-century/      

 

 

 

[Jesta]

Dale: those are literally a one-horse race 

 

I’m still fascinated by the bowstring in the mouth. Seems like such a bad idea. 

[Bugyotsuji]

Lovely examples, Justyn, and  great background information. 

 

With his horse struggling to turn away, I can guess that Kagesue needed both hands and all his strength to pull back on the reins. Interestingly in your example he has both arms right through the bow, doubling the safety net on it. You would not want to drop your bow in the river, and the mouth is a useful third hand!

 

https://www.yamada-shoten.com/i_item/2023/02/141840.jpg

[Bugyotsuji]

On a red lacquer dish, possibly Sasaki Takatsuna, judging by the Kamon?

 

 

[Jake6500]

3 hours ago, Spartancrest said:

But please don't fall for this "Hamano" mass production! 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/286451162808   or   https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/286451162659  or https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/365486205999   or  https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/387824172249    well I guess you get the idea!

 

        I don't even trust this one with papers - https://www.seiyudo.com/tu-050320.htm I have seen half a dozen with iroe that look just as good at first glance. 

 

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/18980/lot/15/a-bakumatsu-shakudo-tsuba-late-19thearly-20th-century/      

 

 

 

 

Yeah I've seen these popping up lately. There was one on Jauce the other day as well (not sure if it's still there).

 

I pity anyone new to the hobby who gets burned on one of these hockey pucks... They are often listed with the "Hamano" attribution in the listing despite having few stylistic similarities or lacking any discernible clarity or similarity due to the poor quality.

 

The papered tsuba looks more like something resembling Hamano style work. It gives you an idea of what the original tsuba from which all these copies were produced likely looked like. That said, given how many of these are floating around I would operate on the assumption that it too is just a higher quality reproduction. Certainly wouldn't trust it either.

[Spartancrest]

42 minutes ago, Jake6500 said:

I pity anyone new to the hobby who gets burned on one of these hockey pucks...

I will put my hand up and say I bought one years ago but I only paid $12 which is still more than they are worth - but a cheap enough paperweight price!

Don't feel sorry for me - - I have had hours of fun bitching about the bloody things and trying to shy people away from them!  

 

One behind glass on Jauce  https://www.jauce.com/auction/c1096574189      https://www.jauce.com/auction/e451593597

This could go over on the "Share the most cringeworthy tsuba you have seen"  thread  https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords10/KY337224.htm  Not just the tsuba but the file and scruff marks on the blade they are selling!!

[Jesta]

3 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Lovely examples, Justyn, and  great background information. 

 

With his horse struggling to turn away, I can guess that Kagesue needed both hands and all his strength to pull back on the reins. Interestingly in your example he has both arms right through the bow, doubling the safety net on it. You would not want to drop your bow in the river, and the mouth is a useful third hand!

 

https://www.yamada-shoten.com/i_item/2023/02/141840.jpg

Thanks, and a great painting too. 

I hadn’t considered that holding the string in your mouth might be an extra-safe way to hold onto it. I had the vision of the bow bouncing up and down smacking him in the chin over and over again, but if he’s clinching it tight to the body and just controlling it with his mouth it makes a certain amount of sense… 

[Jesta]

14 hours ago, Jake6500 said:

A very famous scene that appears throughout the Edo Period in Tosogu pieces Justyn! You see this motif a lot on fuchigashira and on the occasional tsuba as well.

 

Here is an example from my collection that I acquired not too long ago signed "Hamano Noriyoshi". You should hopefully recognise similarities from your own such as the bow in the mouth of the riding samurai on your tsuba!

 

 

The samurai should be Kajiwara Kagesue riding Minamoto no Yoritomo's horse. Here is a woodblock for comparison:

 

 

This set is beautiful. The detail is amazing, and I love how the creator has fitted the action into such a confined space. 

[Jake6500]

34 minutes ago, Jesta said:

This set is beautiful. The detail is amazing, and I love how the creator has fitted the action into such a confined space. 

 

Thanks Justyn, I must confess it is currently the single most expensive piece I have in my collection and I was happy to have an excuse to share it here!

 

I have started to gravitate toward the Hamano style and am a big fan of contrast pieces. The contrast between shibuichi and gold is something I find quite appealing...

[Jesta]

11 minutes ago, Jake6500 said:

 

Thanks Justyn, I must confess it is currently the single most expensive piece I have in my collection and I was happy to have an excuse to share it here!

 

I have started to gravitate toward the Hamano style and am a big fan of contrast pieces. The contrast between shibuichi and gold is something I find quite appealing...

I don’t like to talk about expense… 

Personally, while I haven’t really fixed on a preferred style I am increasingly in love with good nanako, and I love wave patterns, so this set hit all my weak points.