What are unusual or rare subjects for menuki?

[Ford Hallam]

can't remember where I "borrowed" this image

 

[watsonmil]

Dear Ford,

I was hoping that you or Charlie might come up with an image of an owl being used on a piece of Kodogu. I spent half the morning searching old catalogues trying to find the Kodzuke I mentioned. It was so peaceful and serene ( in my opinion ), that I was tempted to place a bid. I think I am still correct in that they are relatively rare as a subject however. They certainly are not a common subject, ... at least in my observations. Just as an aside, ... my feeling is that this set are relatively contemporary rather than Edo, ... am I correct or out to lunch ??

... Ron Watson

[outlier48]

  Quote

I think I am still correct in that they are relatively rare as a subject however.

 

I agree (but my experience is very limited). I have only seen one tsuba with the theme (and do not recall if the owl was looking forward or back over its shoulder) and other than the previously posted photo of the owl menuki, none of those at all. I will definitely be on the lookout for owl themed tosogu on my trips to Japan.

 

Perhaps there is a type of owl that Japanese consider a lucky omen and anther they consider an unlucky one? Or, perhaps there are regional differences? I found one website that asserted, "In Japanese culture, owls are seen as either negative or positive symbols depending on species. Eagle Owls are seen as divine messengers of the gods while Barn or Horned owls are perceived as demonic figures".

 

Charlie Brashear

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Ron,

 

these are mid to late Edo period. I don't suppose owls are all that common but to be honest I wouldn't use the word rare in any discussion like this. It's just too subjective ....unless we know all the menuki made judgements on the relative rarity of subject matter can only be made on the basis of personal exposure. My joke about penguins was my way of making that point

 

I think whales and a little boat with harpooners would make really excellent menuki....and why no sharks? Surely they are mean enough?

[Bob M.]

Relevant ?

[outlier48]

Sweet!

 

Charlie Brashear

[Ford Hallam]

sweet little owl....sitting on a huge chopper

[Toryu2020]

Now if your owl is auspicious then he is sitting on the hoe hunting for all the field mice that will be out and about with the harvest.

 

or

 

The tools are for grave digging and the absence of the owner does not bode well for him...

-t

[watsonmil]

Dear Bob,

Love the Owl Tsuba, .... am I right in an attribution of ko-nara in ko-hamano style ( mid edo ) ? Remember be gentle I am not an expert at all in the Kodogu field but always learning.

 

Dear Thomas,

Ah a gentleman of my own persuasion .... " is the cup half full or half empty ". As in all things ( particularily Japanese ), there are two ways of interpretation. A most astute observation, or at least a fun one !

 

I must say I love the thread, and the input, ... I know I have learned a few things, .... not to be so damn sure of myself nor necessarily my sources. I do think Carlo takes the prize however, ... for the life of me I cannot recall seeing a cat ! It was also great to see Reinhard's contribution, ... an excellent example for sure.

... Ron Watson

[Toryu2020]

Labelled as Kakeya Rangaku -

Which I would translate as "wood-mallet rangaku" or wood-mallet and fence or a fence of wooden mallets? Not sure exactly but I like the idea of a pile of stakes and mallets as a barricade. A Rangaku btw is a type of castle defense, a barricade made by driving stakes into the bottom of a shallow moat and then tying a stout rope to them in a random pattern. Meant to trip up men and horses as they assault the castle walls.

 

While I appreciate Goto artistry, I have never much cared for their works mostly because of their subject choices. However when I saw this set I fell in love with it because of the unusual subject and the deep black of the shakudo. (sorry the photos do not do them justice)

 

I was only able to find one other depiction of this subject and it too was early Goto work. Hows this for rare?

[outlier48]

  Quote

I must say I love the thread, and the input, ... I know I have learned a few things, .... not to be so damn sure of myself nor necessarily my sources.

 

Ron - my sentiments as well. I think (hope) I have learned much from this interesting thread. I really do have to be careful of staking out a position and ignoring contrary information such as that which you were kind enough to provide. Many thanks! And, to get to see pics of some quite unusual fittings themes was a definite treat. Thanks to all who took the time to share.

 

Charlie Brashear

[Basho12]

Oddest menuki I've seen so far was a pair of old stick-pins that had been repurposed. One side showed the mask of Tragedy and the other, Comedy. I'm guessing those were fairly late period, though.

[Mantis dude]

Hi all,

 

Just figured I scan this photo in from a Rei catalog (#171-5) from token shibata of an elephant kozuka. Just came across it as I was going through some that I have. By the way, These Rei or is it Rai catalogs are very good reference material. They have lots of nice pics & oshigato of swords and fittings. A few times they have come in handy. As for Dragonfly's, I see them all the time and in my uneducated experience are the most depicted insect out there no matter the form of fitting (tsuba, menuki, etc).

 

Enjoy!

Ken

[reinhard]

  watsonmil said:

... for the life of me I cannot recall seeing a cat !

 

Quoting from "Myths and legends of Japan" by F.Hadland Davis:

 

"The Japanese cat,..., is very far from being popular, for this animal and the venomous serpent were the only two creatures that did not weep when the Lord Buddha died. Nipponese cats seem to be under a curse. ..... The Japanese cat is said to have control over the dead."

 

Unless a twisted samurai wanted to express his strange personality and attitude in public (not very likely), there was no demand for cat-design on koshirae.

 

reinhard

[Ted Tenold]

Good point Reinhard. However, I do remember seeing a Goto kozuka of a tethered cat attacking a mouse. I have to wonder what the underlying *acceptable* theme was for this. Indeed rare, but still an exception.

[Grey Doffin]

AHA! Being a minimalist collector I own one menuki, and it happens to be a pair of cats.

Grey

[watsonmil]

It just goes to show us all, ... just when you think you've nailed it down along comes the exception.

...Ron Watson

[ububob]

For the moment it still holds for snakes. :D

[doug e lewis]

I have seen pictures of Buddha & samurai, and monks used in menuki and tsuba, but never women. No geisha, pearl divers, empresses or princesses ---- Lady Murasaki comes to mind as one famous princess.

 

If there are none, why? If there are, would love to see pictures.

 

thank you. Doug e

[nagamaki - Franco]

A damselfly menuki is not one you see everyday http://www.aoi-art.com/fittings/menuki/F10345.html .

[doug e lewis]

Very nice, Franco. Is it a damsel in distress? what bugs me [can't help the pun] is no human women menuki

 

I would thin there could be several thems for one, ie woman wielding a naginata, O-Inari-San, the Sun Goddess Amatereshu-Omi-Kami. And Kuzunoha, the She-Fox of Shinoda, would be a great theme for a set of Koshirae.

 

As the story gos: Kuzunoha was a type of Kitsune who turned into a beatiful woman in order to marry the man who saved her life. Later, when her young son (Seimei) glimpsed his mother's animal form, Kuzunoha was forced to abandon her family and return to the forest.

 

Lots of vixen/woman action there for tsuba, kashira, fuchi, and menuki to illustrate. there must be some out there.

 

NMB members in Japan must have some!

 

Doug e

[george trotter]

Just on the point of the cat in Japanese ancient legend as being bad luck or sinister, there may well be such stories, but the "nemuri neko" (dozing cat) on Tokugawa's tomb at Nikko seems to suggest other perceptions exist also...does anyone know it's legend?

I have only my personal experience to go on but I also note that the "good luck bringing cat" is everywhere in Japan and I recall being told that if one sees a cat sitting on the front step of a house, licking it's paw and washing it's ears, it is a sure sign of stability and contentment in that house....

I do get a feel of quiet contentment from those cat menuki, probably an individual perception...the opposite of a dog lover perhaps?

I do wonder why there are so few cat tosogu themes however...(or women!...now there's true contentment :lol: )

Regards, George.

[cabowen]

George:

 

Perhaps you are referring to the "maneki neko" (招き猫), which is a symbol of good fortune, prosperity, etc. in Japan. A beckoning cat statue is nearly always seen near the entrance or cash register of businesses in Japan...

 

[sencho]

  reinhard said:

Quoting from "Myths and legends of Japan" by F.Hadland Davis:

 

"The Japanese cat,..., is very far from being popular, for this animal and the venomous serpent were the only two creatures that did not weep when the Lord Buddha died. Nipponese cats seem to be under a curse. ..... The Japanese cat is said to have control over the dead."

 

Unless a twisted samurai wanted to express his strange personality and attitude in public (not very likely), there was no demand for cat-design on koshirae.

 

reinhard

 

 

Strange then that both snakes and cats are considered lucky now....

 

After seeing a good sized snake in the garden this summer (at which point I almost messed myself) my mother in law thought it was the best thing to happen so far this year!!! If a god returns to earth, they are considered to take the form of a snake, which is why it is very unlucky to kill a snake in Japan.

 

Snakes are depicted in art and statues all over Japan and have been for many hundreds of years, (also included with some of the lucky gods); so I do not quite understand the passage from the book.

 

Black cats especially also regarded as being a very good omen in Japan, and Manekineko of course.... but cats are not always good... Bakeneko is a ghost/monster cat that has some control over the dead (as referred in the book), but a cat can only turn into a Bakeneko if he/she gets too old or fat!! However most cats are considered lucky, and as far as I know always have been.

 

(My friend Shintani san, said his wife had turned into a Bakeneko the other night - but that was after he was out drinking with me until after 12 and missed the last train home!!)

 

Cheers!

[cabowen]

  sencho said:

 

(My friend Shintani san, said his wife had turned into a Bakeneko the other night - but that was after he was out drinking with me until after 12 and missed the last train home!!)

 

Cheers!

 

yes, missing that last train home will do that to a women....seen it more times than I would like to admit......

[george trotter]

  sencho said:

(My friend Shintani san, said his wife had turned into a Bakeneko the other night - but that was after he was out drinking with me until after 12 and missed the last train home!!)

 

Cheers!

 

Ah, Sencho san...I've heard of the shrill neko of "missing the last train home"!! :lol:

Chris you are right, Maneki...that is the moggie I've seen everywhere.

I looked up the nemuri neko at Nikko...it is a national treasure carved in the 1600s as a guardian of the granaries, to protect the Tokugawa from the theiving mice!...so, a good cat. It makes me wonder however, why we don't see the big nezumi (rats) often depicted as a sign of plenty?

regards, George.

[doug e lewis]

Ok, if there are cats, what about dogs? other than shi shi, temple guard dogs.

Like the Akita Inu, great guard/attack dog, or Tosa Inu, great fighting dog that was a cross with western dogs. Then the area specific inu --- Kishu Inu, Shiba Inu, Hokkaido Inu, Shikoku Inu, and Kai Inu.

 

any Inu lovers making tosogu?

[cabowen]

  george trotter said:

It makes me wonder however, why we don't see the big nezumi (rats) often depicted as a sign of plenty?

regards, George.

 

I have seen rats on kodogu many times as a symbol of prosperity....

 

One New Year's Day morning I woke to strange sounds coming from my ofuro (bath tub room). I went in there and was horrified to see a rat in my tub! Because of the stainless and steep sides, he was unable to get out! I grabbed an iai-to (fake metal blade) and took a few stabs at him until he was skewered. That is when I noticed I nearly pierced the tub! That would have been an expensive mistake....

 

Anyway, I was absolutely sickened by the fact that somehow a rat had gotten into my house. When I told my Japanese friends about it, they all complimented me on how auspicious this was.....I preferred to keep the rats outside nonetheless....

 

Another time I was on a date (with the women I eventually married) when we stopped at a rather dumpy bar in Shinjuku to kill a little time before seeing a movie. We had just sat down when a rat jumped out of a hole in the wall at the end of the bar and ran down toward us, skipped across our hands, ran the rest of the way down the bar, and then jumped down and ran out the open door! My date was looking away and it happened so fast they she completely missed it...My jaw was on the floor- I looked at the bartender and he had this big, toothless grin! I grabbed the date and ran out the door...She couldn't understand what the problem was until we were well down the street....

 

I have several other rat in Japan stories, but will save those for another day....

[nagamaki - Franco]

  doug e lewis said:

Is it a damsel in distress? what bugs me [can't help the pun] is no human women menuki

 

hmm, pure speculation, however, I have to wonder if there might have been some sense (superstition) on the part of a samurai where a single emotional thought brought on from a reminder of a woman, might be the one attachment enough to cause a hesitation that could cost him his life in a critical moment of confrontation, battle. Or perhaps I've watched the Trilogy and Heaven and Earth one too many times.

 

  doug e lewis said:

Like the Akita Inu, great guard/attack dog

 

a friend whose wife owned an Akita would call her dog 'boots' (not its given name), whenever he wished to give his wife grief, because as the story goes the mongols would send a wave of these dogs out in front of the attack, and any dogs that were slain would be skinned and their fur turned into boots after the battle.

[watsonmil]

Dear Doug et al,

I don't think dogs are uncommon to see on Kodogu, ... I have a set of matching sword fittings ( albeit ) no dog mnuki ! Here is the Tsuba :

... Ron Watson