Bruce Kirkpatrick

[Steve Waszak]

It is with much sadness that I have to present the news here that the long-time tsuba scholar and historian, Bruce Kirkpatrick, has passed away (this past Monday).  

 

Many here may not have known, or known of Bruce, as he did not participate in online forums.  However, he was a major figure in tosogu scholarship, particularly tsuba, having been involved in studying, researching, and collecting Japanese sword guards for over fifty years.  Unfortunately, Bruce was quite reluctant to publish his findings and insights, and, despite my frequent encouragement, he could never be persuaded to put his thoughts into writing.  This is a great loss for all of us who are serious in our pursuit of tosogu study and learning.  In the twenty-plus years I have been deeply involved in the scholarship, connoisseurship, and collecting of tsuba, I have never encountered another with the degree and breadth of insight Bruce had in this field.  His ability and capacity to identify and put together seemingly disparate pieces of information from the most widely scattered sources, and to do so convincingly, was nothing short of astonishing.  Ever the iconoclast, his views not infrequently challenged the status-quo traditional understandings of many aspects of tsuba, including those pertaining to schools, construction methods, influences on design, and many other aspects.  He was often forceful and unapologetic about issuing these challenges; for some, his manner was too churlish, harsh, and disrespectful of tradition, and so, there were those who chose not to associate with Bruce.  While I understand such sentiments (and felt some of these myself), the brilliant insights he had on so many topics in the world of tsuba ultimately more than made up for his thorny nature.  I can say emphatically here that I have learned more from Bruce about tsuba and the cultural milieu that informed so much about them than I have from all other sources combined.  Historian, aesthete, cultural critic par excellence, Bruce will be sorely missed by those of us who had the opportunity to know him well.  

 

RIP Bruce

 

 

[Winchester]

I am sorry for the loss of your friend, Steve, as well as to the others who knew, loved, and cared for him.

 

 

 

[DKR]

Time passes... friends must go... but memories remain.

Bruce... a unique guy. Both in his appearance and his demeanor.

In both pockets of his jeans, he almost always had tsuba, which he worked on with horn or bone at almost every opportunity... sometimes even in the morning at diner breakfast.

I will never forget the expression on the faces of the other guests when they saw Bruce at work in the morning at breakfast.
In 2002, I first heard one of his almost legendary lectures on sukashi tsuba at the table of a dealer friend in Tampa.
I have never met anyone with such a keen eye for good iron tsuba.
It was in San Francisco... in 2003 or 2004, on the last day, just before closing... Bruce and I, a group of four, were strolling through the sword show.
At one table, swords lay in five or six layers, completely jumbled together. Bruce stopped, reached into the stack, and pulled out a rather poor-looking wakizashi in a koshirae.
On the koshirae was a Kanayama tsuba. I couldn't believe my eyes. I must have walked past it 6 or 7 times before...looked through the stack...and I didn't see it...and Bruce strolls past and däng, he sees it immediately.

Crazy in a positive way...that was Bruce for me.

 

Rest in peace my crazy friend

[Brian]

Condolences to his friends and family. Sounds like a big loss to the community