A Sawari-zogan tsuba ...

[docliss]

The attached image is of a mumei, sawari-zōgan, ita-tsuba from my collection. Rendered in a hard, darkly patinated iron, migaki-ji and mokkō-gata, it measures 7.5 – 7.3 cm, and is extremely thin, being only 0.2 cm at the centre, and 0.1 cm at the edge. Three engraved grooves form a circle surrounding the ryō- and nakago-hitsu, and a similar, single groove outlines the mimi. The decoration is limited to the defined area between these grooves, and consists of four cartouche-like quadrants which contain cloud formations rendered in gold and sawari hira-zōgan; the irregular surface of this inlay suggests that the gold, as well as the sawari, was melted into pre-formed recesses in the plate. There are two elongated ryō-hitsu, and the nakago-hitsu contains dark copper sekigane. The inlaid decoration on the reverse is similar in concept, but is very sparse.

 

Presumably, this tsuba should be considered to be Hazama work, but it differs in many respects from the majority of the work produced by the Kunitomo family. Certainly the iron quality is appropriate for a family that had its origin as gunsmiths, and the migaki-ji, produced by a process that necessitated the filing of the alloy to produce a smooth surface, level with the plate, is also characteristic of the work of this ha. But the thinness of the plate contrasts with the description of ‘average Edo age thickness’, and the design of Hazama tsuba is described as being of two styles – either large, pictorial areas of sawari inlay covering the majority of the plate, or fine, linear designs covering only a portion - quite unlike the design here.

 

Any comments will be gratefully received, John L.

[Marc BROQUIN]

Hello John, :D

 

This style is intrigating a lot.

 

Yes, surely when we speak about sawari or sahari (the 2 words are found) immediately we think HAZAMAMA and KUNITOMO school.

 

But all the Kunitomo I know , authentified ones, where all thicker than your specimen, around 5 or 6 mm, I think to allow for carving the cavities necessary for pouring this copper alloy.

 

All of them where then surfaced to equalize the surfaces of iron and sawari, in large or small designs. :|

 

Outside of this peculiar school technique, I got once a small tsuba (wakizashi) with a small design of some kind of karakusa in thin lines, filled with sawari .

 

I have never thought this tsuba to be from HAZAMA school and think this technique has been used minoritary in other school.

 

It is always easy to say, it is SHOAMI, but in this peculiar case, I would vote for this attribution.

 

Comments welcome. :D

 

Best regards :D

Marc

[Steve Waszak]

Hi John,

 

An appealing, intriguing tsuba here. My initial thought is that the zogan may be a later addition to an earlier ita plate. Your observations of the various features of the tsuba, including those that are "at odds," are good ones. As you say, while the Kunitomo employed the sawari inlay and forged quality steel for their tsuba, the overall design of this piece speaks to a pre-Edo sensibility, I would say. The thinness of the plate, in particular, has me thinking this tsuba can't be Edo, or at least, not the part of the Edo period in which Hazama tsuba are thought/known to have been made. Further, again as you have noted, the rendering of the motif is not done in a manner consistent with usual Hazama work. In fact, the only real strong indicator of anything having to do with Hazama, it seems, is the use of sawari inlay. I don't recall offhand if sawari was an invention of the Kunitomo, or if it had existed/been used well prior to their popularizing of it. In any case, the dimensions of this tsuba, together with its design (shape, engraving, large, elongated ryo-hitsu, and rendering of the motif) and metal quality, suggest a pre-Edo time of manufacture, specifically Momoyama. I would suppose ko-Shoami here.

 

Whatever it is, it is a really strong, highly appealing tsuba, I think. I will look forward to others' comments... Thanks for presenting this, John...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Ford Hallam]

Hello Dr John,

 

I believe the gold and grey alloy clouds are actually nunome-zogan. The grey is, imo, silver. If this is correct then there would not be any reason to suggest this is a Hazama work.

 

regards,

 

ford

[Curran]

I figured it was silver too.

 

I thought I was the only one here who actively liked Kunitomo and Hazama tsuba.

A friend recently pointed me at this page here on them: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/tsuba_001/m/201010

 

Scroll down to see the blog posts from Oct 1st to October 12th. I believe there are also some Hazama in the September posts to the blog. I own the tsuba in the Oct 5th, 2010 post. Long ago I tried to buy the one posted on Sept 28, 2010 ... but someone beat me to it. There are one or two for sale in Japan now.

[docliss]

Ford and Curran, certainly food for thought, but I don't think that the grey zogan is silver, and am fairly certain that it is not nunome - in spite of the very hard nature of the plate there are no visible, residual cross-hatchings to be seen anywhere. If you are both correct it does, of course, simplify the whole question. John L.

[Ford Hallam]

Hi John,

 

I may be wrong ( it may be pixelation) but the areas of grey and gold certainly look cross-hatched in the first image ( the close up ) you posted.

 

My impression is that this is a Higo work. Mid Edo imo. I think it has a lovely worn texture on the steel which was deliberate and from the time of manufacture. The iron reminds me of the Shimizu group but the design of the circles and the scrolls around the rim are more reminiscent of Matashichi and/or Hirata. The worn effect on the gold and grey of the clouds would be expected on this sort of work also. I can post a number of images of accepted Higo pieces that exhibit the design features that yours does if it helps.

 

regards,

 

ford

[docliss]

Yes please, Ford, I would very much like to see the images that you offered. I think that the impression of cross-hatching that is seen in my enlarged image is due to pixellation, and is not apparent when the tsuba is examined 'in hand'. Thank you for your helpful comments. John L.

[Steve Waszak]

Higo? Hmmmm... I don't see this as Higo, I'm afraid. The plate is way too thin for Higo, the hitsuana do not speak of Higo sensibilities, and I don't see Shimizu steel here. The bori is too naively done to be Matashichi. If it is Higo, it's the thinnest plate I've ever heard of being attributed to a Higo artist...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Curran]

It isn't always as simple as A or B. You get to choose whether it is Ab or aB or something C entirely.

 

I have a ko-kachuchi where the iron says mid to late muromachi. The oldest tsuba I own. Yet it has gold and silver brocade nunome on the face.

A year or two ago: under serious magnification it could be seen that the gold and silver brocade was nunomed onto the plate later (the nunome runs oddly through pores that had developed with age, skipping some deeper pores), and the kozuka/kogai cut even later through the nunome. A faint signature was added on top of it all, and nearly lost with time and age of being mounted.

 

So what is it? Ko-kachushi or a Higo/shoami tsuba after the nunome was added?

One of the other board members has a decidedly late muromachi / earliest edo ko-tosho that had sukashi cut in it later. I think they papered it as 'Shoami' which was a laugh.

 

From the work on Dr. L's tsuba, even if the plate itself is older.... it might draw Higo or other papers. Sometimes papers simply tell you the last known interpretation of classification. Not what it fundamentally was or predominantly is. By western standards, if a Japanese painter painted a kabuto on the Mona-lisa (then signs it)... it would still be an italian painting. By some Japanese papering methodology, it would be a modern Japanese Mona Lisa work. I can see both sides of the logic.

... and maybe Mona Lisa would look even better in the right kabuto?

[Steve Waszak]

Yes, I did say I thought it possible that the zogan may have been added to an earlier ita plate...

 

What you say here, Curran, is one reason that papers don't mean a whole lot to me. There have just been too many iffy calls made, as your example regarding the ko-tosho/"Shoami" illustrates. But then, given that so many of the "schools" that we find papers attributing tsuba to were convenient "taxonomic" inventions of various scholars and dealers of the Meiji Period, rather than existing as such when the tsuba in question were made, the notion that "correct" attributions can even exist in many cases is highly dubious. When one throws in all of the "cross-fertilization" in design and construction methods increasingly seen in the Edo period, it should invite us to be less concerned with identifying what "school" given mumei tsuba might be. We may want to ask ourselves why we are as focused as we are on the "identity" of tsuba, rather than (it would appear to me) on what makes a tsuba qualitatively excellent (or not). The fact that this latter would be seen as "too subjective" does not in the slightest invalidate this sort of inquiry, at least, not any more than such considerations would invalidate any form of critical examination and appreciation of art.

 

Perhaps I am veering too far off topic... Apologies.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[John A Stuart]

I too have a similar tsuba, in that, it is kamakura bori with later added karakusa zogan in silver. I bought the tsuba since it is a classic example of crossed ya. I consider it kamakura and not otherwise despite the addition which did nothing to add to it's presence. I would think the most predominate feature would determine the niche in which it fits, if labeling it is comfortable or necessary for one. John

[IanB]

John, As you know, I am an ignoramus when it comes to tsuba, but two points struck me. Sawari is a very hard alloy with I suspect quite a high melting point (perhaps Ford might know the approximate value). It was used extensively on armour, particularly in Kaga, fused on as droplets to represent dew or rain (- and as gama hada on tsuba?). But, they had a lot of trouble pulling the trick off. To be successful they had to just fuse the metal enough to stick but not to run. I have a pair of kote where the guy has just overheated the plates and on some the alloy has flashed over the surface. There is a helmet, by I think Ryoei, in the Armouries where exactly the same has happened. It represents an egg plant with the stalk and sepals(?) at the top and leaves forming the peak - all in one piece. Can you imagine his mood when the sawari flashed over the surface after all that raising. - are there many swear words in Japanese?

The other point is about your tsuba. The wear to the lower part has all but removed the chiseled lines - that has had a lot of use.

Ian Bottomley

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Steve,

 

the comparisons I made were not to suggest that those masters may have made this present piece but simply to build an association in terms of design and motif. The ryo hitsu aren't of any of the more exotic Higo versions certainly but more conventional shapes such as these are found in Higo works also.

 

Dr John,

 

I would also point out, as does Marc, that sawari/sahari is always finished flush with the steel ground into which it is fused. On your example the clouds are clearly carved in relief and stand proud of the surrounding ground.

 

It may help to consider that the alloy is typically applied in a manner similar to the process employed in champlevé enamelling. The alloy is filled up to produce a fine powder which is then packed into the prepared cavity ( when I experimented with this process years ago I added a little borax powder to the metal) this is then brought up to melting temperature. Once cooled the excess metal is ground off leaving the alloy flush with the surrounding steel surface. The most characteristic feature of sawari inlay is the appearance of bubbles and sunken areas of roughened metal. This has often, inaccurately been described as being some sort metal rot or corrosion. It is simply the result of pockets of air being trapped in the metal powder when it was melted and in some areas the alloy not being sufficient to fill the cavities. These apparent imperfections were seemingly appreciated in their own right.

[docliss]

Ian's observation regarding the extensive wear to the bottom one third of the plate is clearly relevant, as is the comparable wear to the inlay in the same area. If this inlay was a later modification to the plate, as some of you suggest, it has obviously been there long time, and was presumably added before the wear on the plate became apparent. John L.

[Ford Hallam]

I would suggest that what appears to be extensive wear to the iron plate was created thus by the original maker. A brief perusal of Mr Ito's recent book on Hirata and Shimizu works will show that this aesthetic is quite a common one in these groups.

[Lee Bray]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tsuba-Hexagon-Gold- ... 3a5fb3e7cd

 

Saw this on ebay and noticed the similarities.

NBTHK attributes it to Shoami.

[jason_mazzy]

hitendo posts nice stuff also. most is out of my price range.

[Steve Waszak]

Lee,

 

Thanks for posting that link. Interesting. But notice how much thicker this piece is than the one originally posted in this thread. That is an important point, I believe. How many Edo Period tsuba do we know of that were 2mm (or less) in thickness? Even 3mm is rare in Edo times...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Ford Hallam]

Steve,

 

I agree with you that the thinness is perhaps significant but I don't know of any tsuba that is as thin as 1mm at the mimi. This is wafer thin!

[Steve Waszak]

Hi Ford,

 

Agreed, this seems VERY thin.

 

John, any chance you could post photos of the mimi, maybe a side-on view, and/or a 3/4 shot?

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[docliss]

Steve, attached are the two images that you requested; I am not sure that they show the detail you require. John L.

[Eric H]

Gentlemen,

No reply on the last contribution has been made, I allow myself to upload a Hazama Tsuba 8 x 7.9 x 0.4 cm, red copper with sahari and gold hon zogan...only to study purposes...not to hijack the topic.

 

Eric

[Ford Hallam]

I really like that one, Eric. Ex Henry D Rosin collection I believe.

 

Funny enough I was inspired by this thread to have a little play at sahari inlay this week. I chose to do it in copper also as I'd experimented on iron years ago. One thing I can add about these sahari alloys is they are incredibly hard but extremely brittle. They take a remarkable polish also which was why similar alloys were used by telescope makers in the past to fashion mirrors (speculum metal).