What does "Western influence" mean to you?

[sanjuro]

I could be horribly wrong here, but I have always understood the origins of the so called Namban style to be more Chinese. Chinese that is, as depicted in a European fashion which the Japanese then adopted and produced as the Namban style. That the East India Company was a factor in this process makes a lot of sense. However, the style is something of an exceptional extreme in the application of Japanese aesthetics, if there are indeed any discernible Japanese aesthetics involved rather than mere copying and adaptation.

My apologies to those who have a liking for the style, but are we not here stepping beyond that which we individually like or dont like and seeking out evidence of the presence of a range of Japanese aesthetics, as least as we understand them in the various pieces offered for examination?

If this is so, it is challenge enough in these initial stages I feel, to identify a Japanese aesthetic or a syndrome of Japanese aesthetics in any given piece as a first step. Origins of the influence are a completely different although equally valid aspect of this discussion, but could lead us in meandering although fascinating sideroads.

[docliss]

Dear George

 

Thank you for your informed comments upon the Dutch East India Company.

 

While it is not my wish to subvert Ford’s thread, I should like to observe that the presence of the kozuka-hitsu on this guard confirms that it was intended for mounting on a Japanese blade, and its position confirms that the image has not been reversed. The ‘reversed’ VOC logo is unlikely to have been produced by stamping – surely such a stamp would not have been incorrectly produced – but rather engraved by a worker unfamiliar with Western characters. I believe that such tsuba were possibly produced both in Japan and also in India for export to Japan.

 

John L.

[george trotter]

Hi John,

thanks for your comments. I agree that the hitsu is a pretty sure indication of Japanese usage, although, if intended for export to the west, it could be classed as a "Japaneseness" on a "western themed" Japanese produced article intended for use on a western sword, but of no practical use/significance....just an artistic feature

While the VOC certainly stamped metal with their logo, I have NEVER seen one so small; this fact, taken together with your quite reasonable comments on kebori and the "reverse" cutting by a person unfamiliar with the western alphabet, strongly confirm a "native" Japanese maker....obviously (because of the mistake) not working to VOC direction/supervision. I can't imagine why he would hide the voc under the seppa however...that is a western trait...perhaps he saw an example on something similar and imitated it.

So, it does seem that it is a Japanese object within which I think I see the small-sword guard of Europe above all else. The design to me is certainly western..but what?..influence? borrowing? Still very hard to classify (for me).

I think we (at least I) need Ford to comment on "influences" in this specimen of Japanese make...

 

Re Sanjuro's comment about Namban being associated with China also...I am not knowledgeable enough on Namban to comment in general, but in this particular example I feel the west/occident is strongly apparent.

Regards,

George.

[Ford Hallam]

Hello all...I'll try to keep on top of responses and take them one at a time.

 

Barry,

 

glad to hear you're enjoying the thread . By all means make a pdf available, there are large images available in my Picasa gallery I linked to also.

 

Sorry about leaving Natsuo out. I did consider him but he was quite versatile in a number of different styles that choosing a representative work is difficult. He also did some some very sophisticated pieces that are quite "intellectual" in the way he was clearly attempting to express various aesthetic sensibilities derived from literary sources. In a way he makes a very complex study on his own.

 

I'm hoping that as we proceed I might be able to introduce his particular modes of expression.

 

I'll reveal a recent, original design, tsuba of my own shortly. It contains a number of references to the past so I'll be interested to see how much is discerned by our illustrious company :D after this particular exercise.

 

John L,

 

thanks for your input. I was hoping you'd elaborate on that area, it being a speciality of yours.

 

Like you I felt unconvinced of a Momoyama period dating for the Namban/VOC tsuba. I pushed the date to early Edo but didn't have any more to really go on other than instinct and some vague notions. Your explanation is exactly what I needed. Should I further adjust the date, do you think?...perhaps 1650 ish?

 

With regards to the Hizen tsuba that was just a blind spot on my part. I don't know what I was thinking when I did that and I hesitate to disagree with Graham on this as he's much taller than me. I'll correct that date.

 

Thank you for your kind appreciation on the selection of examples I've chosen. I think they have much to reveal.

 

Mark

 

you may be right about identifying Iki/Seijaku there...I do try to keep stylish and exude a certain calm ...at least in my work

 

George,

 

If I may, I like to suggest we try to keep our focus on the examples I've posted as this may help us develop a clearer overview before we attempt to see various aesthetic traits in other more generic examples. I've tried to provide a reasonable time-line of aesthetic evolution, if we can call it that, so I'm hesitant to introduce further examples that may cloud the overall impression I'm hoping to create.

 

Keith,

 

I feel as you do, we may gain a more sophisticated appreciation of what influences are evident in those pieces which apparently appear to be of foreign influence ( be it Chinese, Spanish, Dutch...maybe it was all down to Will Adams ) by first discerning what was there before...ie; What did indigenous Japanese tsuba look like at the time without outside influence? This is why I felt it may be useful to go back to the start, so to speak.

 

George,

 

my comments to Keith hopefully explain my approach in investigating this huge subject. I believe we'll eventually be able to regard these Namban works in a broader context and perhaps see them as being not quite so abruptly foreign.

 

regards to all and I trust this topic is stimulating at least some revaluation of preconceptions :D

 

ford

[b.hennick]

Hello:

Here is a link to a file that has the images Ford Hallam uploaded. If you would like a copy please click on the link and download the file. It is a 7 page Word document.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/bFFO ... R2RjR0E9PQ

The first 100 people get to download the file. After that if there is still interest I will upload it again.

[sanjuro]

regarding Illustration number 17. The carp and Rod. If I may draw attention to this example in particular.

It would seem that more than one aesthetic principle could be involved in this example that rather fascinates me.

At the outset I will state caregorically that I don't for a moment pretend to be thoroughly conversant with all the nuances of the aesthetic principles involved, so I approach posting these observations with a trepidation similar to that of a man about to sprint around a minefield pushing a lawn roller. However for the sake of discussion I observe the following:

Firstly the treatment of the main subject. The fish contains echoes of Art Noveau. a realistic treatment of the head is balanced by a fanciful stylised treatment of the tail and yet the whole gives a realistic feel to the fish itself. In this there are echoes of Datsuzoku - the avant garde. Also there are elements of Iki and Shizen.

The threatment of the outsize fish against the more traditionally represented smaller rod may even in its disproportion present an element suggestive of the anglers habit of overestimating the size of 'the one that got away', and thereby represents Asobi.

The quality of the plate is reminiscent of wet basalt and therefore wabi or sabi is also represented (I'm not quite sure which). What do others think?

I have deliberately ignored for the present, all traditional and folklore attributions and associations concerning the Carp. Perhaps someone else would care to expand upon this particular aspect of the design when these superficial observations of mine wither in the light of a greater knowledge and the appreciation of cultural relevance.

[Ford Hallam]

Keith,

 

great start ...and I really wouldn't want anyone to feel worried about making similar sorts of analysis'. I don't think there can be any absolute, hard and fast, right or wrong answers. This is supposed to be an exploration....and a bit of fun.

 

So I won't refer to your impressions but will merely offer some more background information on that example and you can see if there's anything there that confirms your ideas or suggests further connections to you.

 

The maker of the tsuba that caught your attention, Murakami Jochiku, is really one of the true iconoclasts of the tradition. By which I mean he really did do things a little different. :D His use of mother of pearl, the eye of the fish in this instance, was quite an innovation at the time and is a recurring trait of his.

 

That background texture ( it's called chirimen, a type of silk crepe ) is also very strongly associated with his work. One story suggests that he couldn't afford the services of a professional nanako specialist so was forced to develop his own treatments...necessity being the mother of invention

 

Another consideration is the subject matter, the big Tai fish is associated with one the 7 Gods of fortune, Ebisu. Ebisu was often paired with Daitoku (who's emblem was a mallet), these two were favourites deities of the merchant class.

 

I really liked your interpretation of the "big fish versus the small rod" as being suggestive of "the one that got away"...a story I heard every day from my brother, growing up. :lol:

 

I was also struck by your comment regarding Art Nouveau. You may be interested to read what I wrote on my blog some time ago on this artist, in that regard. Here's a link to the entry.

[docliss]

Ford, in reply to your query re the dating of the auriculate tsuba, I suppose that 'second half of the seventeenth century' is about as close as we can get. Regards, John L.

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks John. I'll change my label to reflect that.

[sanjuro]

I'm going to make a stab at a general principle here, based on the examples we have before us.

It would seem with a possible exception that where there is a mixture of tecniques involved, ie keribori coupled with some form of incrustation or even sukashi, there also is foriegn influence to a greater or lesser degree. This of course may be coincidental with the group we have as examples. On searching other sources however, this observation still seems to hold water.

I am led to a hypothesis which I am willing to surrender in the light of greater conflicting evidence, that the truly Japanese aesthetic is a singular and simple identity. (Given that Japanese aesthetics are strewn with intricate simplicity). Where we see Ko tosho or ko katchushi work there is one overall, often strong aesthetic and a singularity of technique and material that is the soul and embodiment of that aesthetic. Where the techniques are mixed, then so are the aesthetics to provide an overall impression, The syndrome of aesthetics in this case is more subtle and also carries the evidence of some perhaps foreign influence. One would be led to think therefore that foreign influence becomes a factor as the ko kinko styles were introduced. With few exceptions this seems to be the case. The reasoning here is that due to demand or artistic experimentation with emerging tsuba technology and techniques, the subjects of design became more complex and open to a greater range of interpretation and expression. Perhaps I state the obvious. However, before I take this theory too far, someone jump in and stop me dead in my tracks or confirm that I am not an utter idiot for following this line of thought.

[george trotter]

Hi Keith,

I'm glad you took the plunge! If I've comprehended properly...the examples shown as "Kotosho 1250"..."Kotosho 1400" and "Onin Tsuba 1467" would be the purest un-influenced Japanese aesthetic? They are the work of Japanese artisans using common, everyday inspiration as decoration. They are simple objects made in a minimalist style and material for a specific function, and are thus, in the "Japanese aesthetic".

With the 650AD tomb sword fittings shown, these are the "purest" of the "uninfluenced" items? All others begin to show borrowed/influenced from outside characteristics? (not just from the west.

Regards,

George.

[sanjuro]

Hi George.

 

Yes absolutely right! And that is how I have read them as it were. The kabutsuchi no tachi is of course a famous sword and a fine early example. In essence however, the post minimalist examples of tsuba seem to lean progressively more toward various influences from outside the Japanese culture.

It is of course a natural progression of almost every art form from every culture, but the isolation of Japan I would have thought might have prolonged the pure Japanese aesthetics far beyond those of other more cosmopolitan cultures.

Perhaps Ford may care to comment on this, since it is I think quite significant and not something we would normally recognise without it being an epiphany.

 

Bear in mind however an epiphany that arises from unsound roots leads one to Ford's customary signature line. I quote: "Rigorous reasoning from inapplicable assumptions yields the world's most durable nonsense". :D

[Ford Hallam]

Hello George, Keith, et al...

 

I'm really appreciating the way this exploration is evolving.

 

I think the intuition to get "back to basics" so to speak, is a sound one. To add a further consideration I'd point out that what we may be referring to as "original Japanese aesthetic" itself came from the Asian mainland. Most notably China and Korea.

 

The well documented "Ring pommel swords" are a good case in point. They are found in Korean archaeological sites as well as China and Japan. It's generally accepted that Japanese metalworking traditions developed from imported technology. Naturally enough this was accompanied with imported styles and aesthetics.

 

This imported tradition soon begins to evolve in ways quite different to the ways the original sources do. This is where we begin to see the manifestation and birth of native Japanese impulses and tastes. At this stage it may be worth pointing out that we're ignoring the original inhabitants of the islands, the Ainu. We're not discussing Ainu aesthetics but it I wonder what, if any, influence they may have had.

 

I feel that we may find some clues to this elusive "Japaneseness" by considering the impact of early animist beliefs, notably that which is now known as Shinto. The later assimilation of Buddhism brings with it another layer of aesthetic expression that also feeds into this developing "Japanese aesthetic". I get the impression that it's in the way these various spiritual/philosophical ideas are expressed in art that we can discern something uniquely Japanese.

[sanjuro]

Ford.

 

Given as you say that the original aesthetic influence was Chinese and that quite feasably the original (for want of a better word) Japanese aesthetic was perhaps also influenced by the styles of the Emishi, then we face a chicken and egg type of provenance. The Chinese as the fountainhead of Japanese aesthetics, were also influenced from time to time by styles and aesthetics from India Korea and Mongolia. Trade between these nations goes back to antiquity. The Emishi themselves were also immigrants from Korea and points south of Korea. How far back do we need to go? (The question is rhetorical).

Your point is well made however, and leads possibly to the thought that what we think of as uniquely Japanese was in fact already a mixture of influences prior to any influences from the West.

By extension then, should we not be looking for those qualities that stand out as uniquely Japanese in the examples, rather than those we can identify as influences from other sources?

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Keith,

 

you get my point exactly so the next step, in my conception of things , is to begin to try and discern how the evolving Japanese character, sensibilities and philosophies makes their appearance in their own art forms as distinct from foreign borrowings, what specifically do the Japanese bring to their art that we don't generally recognise as readily in their neighbours art?

 

Most of the clues, I'd posit, are to be found in the very terms that we can use when talking about Japanese aesthetics. Ok, so maybe I get the prize for stating the blindingly obvious but by examining these terms and the origin of these particular sensitivities we may begin to get a better picture of the Japanese aesthetic spirit.

[sanjuro]

For this then we need more voices in the room. You, I and George banging on about this isnt really going to provide the depth or breadth needed to make a great deal of headway.

I'm also beginning to feel like a man standing on an ice flow (floe?) in his birthday suit surrounded by polar bears.(ie.Cold, Lonely, Exposed and Vulnerable) I dont have the depth of knowledge to carry this discussion to a meaningful conclusion. Surely someone else has opinions. This thread has had a lot of hits and I know its not just to read what I have to say.

[george trotter]

This is certainly a fertile field and I have to agree that more voices are needed. I am going to get off the ice floe for a while to let someone else on who wants to contribute...

 

BUT, before I go, I have to digress off-topic (sort of) for a brief comment on the Ainu artistic aesthetic. Talk about "influence" leading us back past the accepted "Japanese" aesthetic to the possible source on the Asian mainland...I must say the Japanese aesthetic may be much older than that...that Ainue graphic art and carvings are IMHO the source of the graphic art and carvings of the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands on the British Columbia coast...also of many of the Pacific NW Indians. If you look at Ainu art in their woven fabrics and Pac NW Canadian Indian art in their fabrics and decorations, you'd think them the same group. I have long held a personal theory that the PacNW Indians came from the same source as the Ainu...perhaps Japan...maybe the PacNWI are the "lost" or "exploring" or "migrating" Ainu fishermen of the past. I say this because I lived in the QCI and have seen both their art and that of the Ainu...so, Ford...perhaps THIS is the true "Japanese" aesthetic? I am not suggesting that we go down this road however as Ainu seem not to be a part of Nihonto in the sense we know it...but this road may date back to the last ice-age.

I will follow this thread with interest.

Regards,

George

[Ford Hallam]

...ah well...it was worth a shot. At least no-one can say we never tried. (apologies to Mick Jagger and Angie)

 

I'll just put my thoughts in my book instead

 

regards,

 

ford

[Steve Waszak]

Ford, Keith, George...

 

I will be engaging in this thread shortly; circumstances have made it difficult just now to participate, but as the number of hits on this thread suggest, there are many who are interested.

 

The topic is exceedingly worthwhile, as it speaks to the reasons (nearly) all of us are even here in this nihonto world. I suspect that many feel they are not sufficiently knowledgeable to contribute meaningfully to this discussion, but I would only say, as Ford has, that it is through actual, active discussion that new insights and understandings may come to light. So I will toss in my two cents, for whatever it's worth...lol. I look forward to "joining the fray" a bit later on today and/or tomorrow...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[sanjuro]

Ford

 

Regarding your last post. Do we take it that you are bailing out at this point? Seems a pity really having come this far. I for one would like to see the thread continue in the same manner, since there is much left unsaid. That there are few voices willing to be heard is rather lamentable, but the attention of over a thousand hits says that it is a popular thread despite being not a well populated thread.

[Brian]

A lot of us prefer to follow and not lead. My gf has a saying: "If you don't have anything intelligent to say, then don't say it out loud"

That doesn't describe you folk..it explains why some of us are reading rather than writing :D

We are taking note, so please do carry on.

 

Brian

[Ford Hallam]

Fellas,

 

I'm definitely not one for bailing out....if there's a good conversation going I'm up for it. I was just beginning to wonder if the whole topic was ultimately not that interesting to most of our members. I'd hate anyone to feel that they needed to hold back for whatever reason. There are no absolutely right or wrong suggestions, comments or observations. I genuinely believe the process of groping our way as a group will be fruitful. I just don't want to be "lecturing" or reciting the "gospel according to me"

 

In science, even the theories and experiments that don't work out as expected often yield valuable new insights. I think we can do the same here.

 

So, have a good look at any of the examples that appeals to you, or catches your eye for whatever reason, consider it in the light of the terms I've offered and see what occurs to you. I'll happily engage with anyone if they want someone to talk to or bounce ideas off.

 

best,

 

ford

[sanjuro]

We may well dwell upon aesthetics and art in this thread, and it is inevitable that we do so. However, in the case of tsuba and tosogu, we must also keep in mind the motivation of the craftsmen producing these things at the time they were produced.

Initially, the tsuba was a utilitarian item. The Tosho, Katchushi and Kanagushi artisans that made them were motivated firstly by the purpose to which the tsuba would be applied. What decoration they sought to apply to those tsuba was restricted and governed to a large extent by that purpose. Their level of technology whilst formidable for the time was limited in comparison to the later tsubako. Moreover, many worked in isolation.

As we progress toward more recent times, a different type of artisan and and an increased knowledge in technology, technique, and metallurgy armed the later tsubako with more to work with as well as the breadth of subject matter both domestic and foriegn, for the enhancement of their works. They grouped their work into schools and were influenced by the styles of that school.

We may view all as art now, but are practical tsuba comparable to later art tsuba? aesthetically they will be more basic. Materially they will follow the more fundamental aesthetic principles. Later tsuba and art tsuba were produced under less restrictive conditions and with a greater range of techniques and materials available to the artisan. Can we measure all of these over a long period of time with the same yardstic, or against the same idealistic model?

[george trotter]

Hi Ford et al...

 

I hope my little thinking out loud on the link between Ainu/Canada art hasn't put the kybosh on this discussion...I was only speculating on a "Japanese" aesthetic that has long intrigued me...and since the word "Ainu" was uttered, I couldn't resist a mention of my own obsevations.

I hope too that jumping off the ice floe isn't taken as a loss of interest in this discussion...I just feel I have said a lot; not all of it relevent to the topic, and thought I'd quieten down for a while to give someone else a chance (also...I'm about dried up in my knowledge pool I think). I intend to follow the thread and perhaps comment if something triggers an opportunity to contribute further...so, Ford, please don't feel that this topic is ended...I think it has a lot of potential. For me at least...being as perhaps the Ainu are the "true" Japanese and the "Japanese" as we know them are later, and as the later "Japanese" art is largely influenced from the Asian mainland from the earliest times (at least since they consciously re-connected to their mainland roots in the 7-9th centuries), I feel decidedly unqualified to identify what can be called "free from outside aesthetics" in "Japanese" art...I also feel a bit shakey on identifying much "western" aesthetic in Japanese art as much of it is itself "outside influenced". I really do need some guidance from the knowledgeable, such as yourself and other members. So...please keep it going.

Regards,

George.

PS, as Keith has just pointed out...the influences and aesthetics depicted in tosogu may have more to do with the economic/political situation in Japan. War/upheaval = simple, utilitarian designs and materials. Peace = more whimsical and time-consuming techniques in manufacture (also higher expense). Peace/affluence/market demand and "one upmanship" = artistic stimulation/innovation/ flights of artistic fancy. This leads to the need to dazzle with knowledge of exotic "differences" in the art of competing artizans = "outside/western aesthetics" appearing in "Japanese" art.

[sanjuro]

Welcome back to the ice floe George. :D I thought you had dumped me and done a runner somewhere at the end of the last ice age.

[george trotter]

Dang! You're right...it's a good topic...move over guys.

Geo.

[Curgan]

Welcome back to the ice floe George. :D I thought you had dumped me and done a runner somewhere at the end of the last ice age.

 

You are not alone. There are some filming you on the ice flow (see, over there at the broken iceberg's tip :D )

 

Please don't drop the thread. It is very educational and fun.

[sanjuro]

If I may expand a little on my previous post regarding the earlier tsuba that were primarily functional. It would seem to me that what we interpret as essentially Japanese in terms of design and aesthetics is largely embodied in those examples made prior to the end of the Muromachi period. That they may contain some earlier Chinese influence is not the issue. Our perception of Japanese art is inclusive of those early influences. That they contain often Buddhist themes in their simple decoration is also included in our perception of 'typical Japanese art'. It is in the frugality of elements, the ascetic quality and the appeal of subtle rusticity and simplicity in which we percieve the 'Japanese' nature of them.

If one were to exclude all earlier influences then we would be reduced only to the tsuba on the Koma tsurugi and the Kabotsuchi tachi as typical Japanese art and even these are arguably 'tainted' by mainland Asian influence. Japan was not peopled by an indiginous race in total isolation and therefore there is in real terms and by definition, no purely Japanese art.

 

We search for those elements in later tsuba and find them certainly, but they are forever being progressively diluted and intermixed with an increasing complexity of foreign influence.

 

What do others think concerning this?

[Ford Hallam]

Keith,

 

I understand what you're getting at and in most respects I tend to agree with the notion of this whole "thing" being continually in flux. What this then leads me to is a sort of intuition about the "character" of the ongoing Japanese creative response to all these various influences. It seems to me that there is, underneath all the external appearances of the actual works of art, a "personality" that deals with these matters in a coherent way. Does that makes any sense?...or do I need my medication?

 

As an attempt to put my finger on one such "personality" trait I offer the tendency to appreciate delicacy in objects and a real need ( so it seems) to really refine technique almost purely for it's own sake. This seems to me to hint at a desire to view art and the world it reflects in almost abstract terms.

 

Take the Nobuie tsuba, for example. Which other culture would (could have or even wanted to) have developed that particular aesthetic? Consider for a moment what that tsuba actually reveals in terms of steel making technology and the refinement of processing the material that then allows for the soft, almost natural, modelling of the surface and the development of very sophisticated process to create the patina and colour.

 

This is quite a commitment to a form of expression that is remarkably understated and apparently uncontrived. Yet this intimate and subtle expression is often at the very heart of things "quintessentially Japanese" ...it's almost the bedrock, if you'll pardon the strained analogy :?

 

We can see this exact expression in the Jingo tsuba too. There's a delicate difference in terms of the actual modelling and form as we'd expect from two different artists but both working very much from the same aesthetic impulse.

 

Shimizu Jingo evidently has another aspect to his character though and he reveals this in his decision to contrast the "yugen" of the plate with something quite different. His cartoon-like designs, the hawk being one of his classics, speaks of humour and light-heartedness. The gentle way he treats his creatures is genuinely charming and utterly unconcerned with trying to hard to impress. In this he is the polar opposite of an artist like Ishiguro Masayashi.

 

Just compare the Ishiguro birds with those of Shimizu Jingo, it would be hard to find a greater extreme in terms of approach. Yet both are instantly recognisable to us as being Japanese. I would go so far as to tentatively suggest that the Jingo work is more authentically Japanese though, and if you can entertain that thought then you may also wonder if Goto work is really all that representative of "true" Japanese aesthetic... or was it merely the officially sanctioned taste of the shogunate and more reflective of neauvo riche aspirations and as such looking back to Chinese/Confucian notions of refined taste.

[Ford Hallam]

Just to take one of my trains of thought a little further I want to introduce another example by Funada Ikkin. I "borrowed" this image from a website about 5 years ago but the site is no longer on-line and I can't remember who's site it was so I don't know who to ask for permission to use the image. If it's yours I hope you don't mind but if it is a problem please let me know.

 

Unlike the first Ikkin example I posted this one is even more minimal in that it features no inlay work at all.

 

 

For me this piece is a continuation of the initial aesthetic impulse we first encounter ( in the examples I posted) in the work of Nobuie. This is a plate of metal, in this case shakudo, that appears to simply have been forged down into a suitable plate and had the rim hammered up (this is called upsetting in forging terms) to provide a sort of frame to it. The aesthetic that the workmanship expresses is direct and seemingly uncontrived. It's a sort of naturalism in metal. The actual decoration is also very direct, just like a bit of brush and ink work. The engraving/carving technique is immediate and allows for no alteration...very Zen like, and the texture left within the cuts by the chisels further speaks of an honesty of approach and perhaps even spontaneity...relative to a very refined and overworked bit of carving say, like the Ishiguro.

 

There is evidence of the process of engraving and modelling the hawk on the Jingo piece also but there it tells a different story. There it adds to a feeling that the work is almost naive. Of course, it's only appears that way, it's actually quite difficult to express that sort of looseness and "freshness" in carved metal but it's not quite as spontaneous as the chiselled decoration of Funada Ikkin. For me, Funada Ikkin is one of the artists in this tradition who best exemplifies an approach that utilises the actual tool marks and processes themselves to give his expression vitality.

 

The "drawing/painting itself is very elegantly allowed to drape around the edge, again, almost incidentally..as though it "just happened". It doesn't betray any sense of having been over thought. Intriguingly though, if you really examine the way the chiselling begins, the way it "emerges" from near the rim and how the lines move in and out as they flow you may begin to see a subtle interaction, this is not an accident and for me at least reflects the complete immersion and sensitivity of the maker. There is not one superfluous mark there and each one has been created as and where it is with sublime care...and there are 3 more side like this! the reverse and the 2 sides of the pair to this tsuba, and each one unique.

 

This tsuba is actually one of a daisho pair and I think they're masterpieces and embody for me much of the essential spirit of the tradition. Certainly in my top 10