Aoi-Art koshirae - Hama-mono?

[drbvac]

I am certain it is carved as well and that just adds to the effort that the maker had to put into it! The tie in with the metal fittings and the sea is really neat.

 

As I said I do like it but I think for the craftmanship - its still ugly and I would surely not pay the 12 grand it was up to on the auction

[Gabriel L]

...I would surely not pay the 12 grand it was up to on the auction

I too can think of a lot of things I'd rather own for $12,000.

[nagamaki - Franco]

I'm virtually certain it is artificially carved to look that way. It just doesn't seem like real damage

 

I am certain it is carved as well and that just adds to the effort that the maker had to put into it! The tie in with the metal fittings and the sea is really neat.

 

Hello, I too have my doubts that this is a piece of actual driftwood that has spent a significant amount of time adrift. The reason for this thought is that it just doesn't have that look of having been exposed to the wash of sand, rocks, and water filled with dissolved minerals for a long period of time, which would have smoothed out the surface and changed the wood structure. However, I will not go so far as to say it is completely hand crafted either. Rather it appears to these eyes to have been a piece of wood from a dead tree exposed to the elements including water. Those roundish worm holes are not made by worms at all, but represent holes made by woodpeckers seeking the termites and carpenter ants that carved out those channels in the wood. Both the woodpecker holes and eaten channels are easily recognizable from having spent a great deal of time in our woods, where dead decaying trees soon take on the same appearance as this saya.

 

Perhaps, this piece belonged to a retired samurai or merchant that simply liked to be reminded of the seashore.

[John A Stuart]

That's interesting Franco, So this person may have had a saya made of peckerwood. John

[David Flynn]

In Oz, we call this "Nail Punch", Borer

[Bazza]

I'm virtually certain it is artificially carved to look that way. It just doesn't seem like real damage

 

I am certain it is carved as well and that just adds to the effort that the maker had to put into it! The tie in with the metal fittings and the sea is really neat.

 

Hello, I too have my doubts that this is a piece of actual driftwood that has spent a significant amount of time adrift.

G'day All,

I've come back to this thread to see considerably more discussion than when last here. I've looked over all the images carefully and at as high an enlargement as the resolution allows. I'm convinced that the saya is indeed a "made" piece - the evident split in the saya clearly points to this. Further, I think the wood is cedar as one can see the medullary rays standing out amongst the decorative features. As to the wormholes, I believe we are seeing the artists rendering of the wormholes of a ship borer, most likely Teredo navalis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teredo_navalis). I've attached an image from wikipedia of Teredo wormholes. The resemblance to our subject scabbard is undeniable.

 

I have seen enough work of the lacquer artisans to know that there is not a subject that is not within their scope and ability to render naturally. A purple silk cord immediately comes to mind. Earlier in this thread I mentioned a scabbard I once saw that looked for all the world as if it had twigs, leaves, grasses, etc etc stuck onto it. Although many years ago, I'm sure it was done in lacquer. I'm as sure that the scabbard under discussion is rendered in lacquer. The comment "The tie in with the metal fittings and the sea is really neat" hints at the pastoral connection with the sea. In the West, we might define "Pastoral" as a Literary Term Definition, for example a poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized way, or a painting that depicts shepherds or country life. For Japanese the sea provides pastoral images. What this scabbard conveyed to its owner is, however, beyond my meagre knowledge.

 

Best regards,

BaZZa.

[Eric H]

Strikingly similar...

Eric

[Ford Hallam]

That's a great bit of detective work, Barry

 

the only question remaining, to my mind, is; "how on earth did they train the worms to make the holes exactly where the artist wanted them?"

 

[Brian]

Excellent work guys.

.....And I thought the big question was why the worms ate the wood, and then left a US 1 cent piece behind? :lol:

 

Anyways, having seen some of the amazing work done on saya that looks natural and yet is made-made, I have little doubt that this was done intentionally to look exactly this way. The person who did it no doubt had their reasons. I would be happy to own the set, and Aoi seems to regard that finish quite highly too.

 

Brian

[nagamaki - Franco]

the only question remaining, to my mind, is; "how on earth did they train the worms to make the holes exactly where the artist wanted them?"

 

Hi Ford, don't be silly, that's easy, as you can see by the following images the artist hires woodpeckers to keep the borers in line http://www.treeboss.net/images/woodpecker-damage.jpg http://icwdm.org/Images/birds/woodpecker/sapsukr2.jpg.

 

[Ford Hallam]

Cheers Franco,

 

that makes so much sense now. It's amazing how in touch with nature these artists were. Now I wonder if I can train ants to polish the fine details on my own work.

 

ford