What I finally ended up buying...

[chuck]

Completely blew my budget, but I've been advised that this was an exceptionally good deal. Should be arriving here by noon tomorrow. Can't wait to actually see this in person!!

 

(Unfortunately, since I went so over budget, I won't be replacing my broken digital camera for a while, so unfortunately I won't be taking any picture of my own any time soon.)

 

Theme is fallen peony flowers on cracked ice. Myochin Kisuo forged the plate and Kobayashi Fusao carved the flowers. Late Edo, probably. Papers!!!

 

http://www.nihonto.com/5.7.10.html

 

At first I was attracted to the stark simplicity, almost bleakness, of the design. I'd never seen a tsuba with this motif before and it drew me in right away.

 

I realized that there was a story here. I have no idea if this motif references an actual event or not, but the imagery that ran through my head when I first saw it...

 

(forgive my lack of descriptive ability)... A court-yard garden, the peonies grow by a small pond. It is early spring, but with a late frost, and snow still clings in patches to the ground. The pond is frozen over. Two samurai face each other with swords drawn (rival clans? a woman? some arcane point of honor?) and the blades flash. It is over in an instant. One blade has struck true. The other has clipped three blossoms from the peony. The dying samurai, his blood steaming on the cold ground, rolls onto his belly and tries to rise. Failing, the last thing he sees is the ice cracking under the slight weight of the blossoms, a sign of the coming warmth of spring.

 

I can't believe I got all that just from the seller's pictures. Like I said, I can't wait to actually hold this.

 

I am poorer, but much happier.

 

Thanks.

 

Peace.

[xxlotus8xx]

Wow. VERY nice!

Congrads!

[watsonmil]

Chuck,

You write : " Two samurai face each other with swords drawn ( rival clans ? a woman ? some arcane point of honour ? )

 

From what I've been reading regarding the Samurai sexual preferences, .... you can substitute " woman " and insert " boy ".

If that doesn't shake your vivid imagination, ... nothing will

 

In all seriousness, .... I think your Tsuba is very nice. Congratulations ! .... Ron Watson

[Mike]

Hi,

Extremely nice tsuba giving true wabi-sabi feeling.

Mike

[raven2]

Very, very nice. I, too, am drawn to the simplicity of it.

[Mark Green]

Very pretty!

I feel those are Camelia flowers. A plant that blooms in the winter/fall.

Mark G

[Ford Hallam]

Most probably Ume, in my opinion. Ume, Japanese apricot, is a 5 petalled flower.

 

In Haiku, and other forms of Japanese poetry, Ume is a kigo, a word used to signify one of the seasons. In this case, typically, early spring. They are also frequently depicted with snow on them.

[Mark Green]

Yes, that is likely as well. Another very early bloomer. I missed the five petals. Around here in NC. they bloom end of Feb-early March. Likely about the same in most of Japan.

Good call Ford. Surely not a peony though.

I looked at it again? Still not sure they are not camelia. The bud looks very camelia like, and they may only have 4 petals????

The pretty inlay pestals look very ume though. Likely ume.

[Curran]

Signed Myochin: Good to see someone buy a nice piece with an interesting joint signature and papers. As Myochin work, probably very hard feeling to it when you have it in hand. Collect what information you can on the signers and keep it with the tsuba.

 

Thank you for sharing this.

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Sir Mark

 

the poetic reference is pretty much a clincher I feel. The peony is an early bloomer but as you know the blossoms won't survive a sudden frost. The Ume is quite hardy in this respect. It signifies the hope of the new season and enduring the hardship of winter.

[nagamaki - Franco]

Greetings,

 

Hmm, thought 'ume' was plum? Apricot bud http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/183/apricot-buds_10539.jpg

 

Also, Ford, sorry, can't agree with the summation of peony being an early bloomer nor subject to frost damage, at least not any of the dozens growing in my gardens, but that's a matter which ventures off topic.

[Mark Green]

Now that I have had a look on my computer, rather than the stupid i thingy, I'm sure Ford Sensei has it right. The Japanese Apricot looks very likely. And, makes the theme correct.

Chuck, It works better with your nice tale also. These Apricots bloom in late feb.-early March. Much more chance of one of your samurai cutting off a few buds, and blooms from a small tree, than a poeny.

No ice around when peony bloom. They are likely just now going by, in northern Japan.

[cabowen]

Most probably Ume, in my opinion. Ume, Japanese apricot, is a 5 petalled flower.

 

In Haiku, and other forms of Japanese poetry, Ume is a kigo, a word used to signify one of the seasons. In this case, typically, early spring. They are also frequently depicted with snow on them.

 

Ume is the Japanese plum, anzu, the Japanese apricot.

 

Tsubaki is the camellia. When the flower has bloomed, the head of the flower drops in one piece, like a severed head. Thus, this flower is associated with the samurai and adds another facet to the name of the star of the Kurosawa classic, "Tsubaki Sanjuro".....

[Mark Green]

Hey, look what I found looking through one of my new tsuba books.

Same theme. I like yours better chuck.

[Ford Hallam]

Prunus mume ( Japanese Apricot ) Introduced in 1844 to Japan, from China

 

Ume is of the plum (prunus) family but is called Japanese apricot by botanists. See here for more details.

 

The confusion over Ume being a plum or technically an apricot is an old one in Japanese art but botanists are pretty clear on the matter

 

Sorry, Franco...my bad I was thinking of some plants I cultivated outside my studio in England, they were white Camellias not Peonies.

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Prunus mume ( Japanese Apricot ) Introduced in 1844 to Japan, from China

 

Ume is of the plum (prunus) family but is called Japanese apricot by botanists. See here for more details.

 

I believe observation of Ume flowering is a very ancient practice and possibly pre-dates Sakura Hanami :

 

http://www.growingwithplants.com/2008/0 ... tival.html

 

This year mines offered an exceptional view with their long lasting blossom under late light snow we experienced here in Northern Italy.

[cabowen]

Here are some pictures:

 

 

anzu fruit (apricot)

 

Anzu (apricot) in blossom

 

Ume (plum) in blossom

 

I had an apricot (anzu) tree outside my kitchen window in Japan....the scent was wonderful...

[Ford Hallam]

Sorry Chris...I don't want to start a "war of the ume" ( oblique reference to English history) :D

You are quite right, anzu is in fact the Japanese word for apricot. However, this does not mean that the thing called Ume is by default a plum. It is of the genus Prunus, ie; plum but is called the Japanese apricot.

 

The word anzu, is merely a generic word for all apricot fruits regardless of their nationality Apricots are also of the genus Prunus

[cabowen]

I'm not arguing your explanation at all-I understand your point that both the plum and apricot are of the plum genus and botanist call the plum the Japanese apricot....

 

In Japan, ordinary people talking about plums used the word ume, when they were talking about apricots, they used the word anzu.....just sayin', this is everyday usage...

 

In any case, I appreciate your clarification. Most interesting....

[Mark Green]

I would say, looking at the pic Chris posted. The white plant may be the exact model flowers, pestals, and bud, for your tsuba Chuck.

Easy to scrape a few of these off in a heated sword fight. :D

Mark G

[chuck]

Wow. I wasn't intending to start a whole botanical discussion. The seller said they were peonies, so I just kinda took his word on it... looks more like the white plum blossoms to me based on the pictures. I agree, the story makes more sense with plum/apricot blossoms than with peonies.

 

Just got it in my hands this morning. It is surprisingly heavy for a thin (4mm) plate. Other than the carving, the plate is very smooth, except tilted in the light at certain angles, subtle imperfections are visible on the surface. Almost like you would see on actual ice - it looks smooth at first, but then you can see bubbles and irregularities. Very cool. The patina is a greyish-brown, and the gold stamen in the flowers really "pop" against the patina. Gorgeous.

 

What's really interesting to me is that there are slight oval markings around the nakago-ana which would seem to indicate that the tsuba was at some point, perhaps briefly, mounted on a sword.

 

I can't help but wonder what the menuki and fuchi-kashira were that went with this tsuba. And where they are now. This kind of collecting is dangerous, because now I want to try to track them down and put the sword back together.

 

Thanks for all your kind comments!

 

peace.

[jason_mazzy]

on a complete;y non nihonto note..... the fruits mentioned above make wonderful bonsai subjects!

[Jean]

.I don't want to start a "war of the ume" ( oblique reference to English history)

 

Does your mon include a rose Ford or only thorns?

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Jean,

 

probably only thorns.... I bloomed a long time ago :D

[Guido]

Theme is fallen peony flowers on cracked ice.

The paper says 氷割れ梅花図, plum blossoms on cracked ice.