Dr. Torigoye hakogaki

[Steve Waszak]

Greetings,

 

I am wondering if someone could aid me in the translation of this hakogaki... I believe it was done by Dr. Torigoye in the description of an Edo-period tsuba. Yet my understanding is that the kao he used here was one he reserved for pre-Edo pieces, so I'm a bit confused. I'm wondering if I'm missing something in the writing here... Any help is much appreciated...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Nobody]

Could you show us the picture of the tsuba?

[bridgeofdreams]

Bob,

 

There was some discussion of Torigoye hakogaki here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5778

 

I see now I forgot to ask Bob about the art name variations, but elsewhere Pete Klein mentioned there's something about this in Haynes Catalog #7. As it happens I'm about to ship my last copy of #7 on hand to a client, I'll have a look before I pack it up and scan it if I can do so without damaging the book.

 

Craig

[Steve Waszak]

Nobody-san,

 

Oh, yes, here is the tsuba! (see attached photos).

 

Craig,

 

Yes, I read through that excellent thread, and have consulted the Haynes #7. The oddity is that in that thread, it was said that Dr. Torigoye used the bird kao for pre-Edo pieces, and used the "round" kao for Edo-period work. In this case, though, he is using the bird kao for a tsuba that I'm pretty sure is mid-19th-century work. So I'm hoping to gain a little insight here...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Martin]

Hi Steve,

 

nice Tsuba ;o)

I think I heard at some time, that Torigoe used a certain Kao for works he appraised on his trips abroad.

 

Best,

[Steve Waszak]

Hi Martin,

 

Yes, Dr. Torigoye did apparently use a particular kao for his trips abroad, but the kao in question here is apparently one he used in Japan, but supposedly only for pre-Edo pieces. The oddity here is that his "pre-Edo kao" is used for a Norisuke tsuba, which means 19th-century...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Jesper]

Just for reference, here is an early hakogaki by Dr. Torigoye, dated “a lucky day in July 1958” (Showa 33).

 

Jesper

 

[bridgeofdreams]

Steve,

 

First, apologies for addressing you as "Bob" in my earlier post - I'm not multitasking too well today.

 

To try to clear things up we ought to first be clear about terminology.

 

"Kao" is the hand brushed stylized signature, usually of the "art name" of an individual. Individuals almost always adopt different art names, usually at different times in their life.

 

"Hanko" is the "seal" carved and stamped usually with red ink. An individual might use several different hanko for different purposes, and even in Japan today there is usually one hanko a person uses as their official legal signature.

 

Both of the examples posted by you and Jesper show Dr. Torigoye's older kao, "Kodo," which Haynes describes as the "very early signature of Dr. Torigoye." (Haynes #7 p. 119) Neither of these examples have a hanko.

 

Both of the examples I posted in the older thread, as well as the one posted by Rich Turner, show the later kao "Sado" which Dr. Torigoye was using by the time of his visit to the U.S. in the late 1960s. The two examples posted by me have the "bird" hanko that Dr. Torigoye used when outside Japan, while the example posted by Rich uses a square hanko. Another example of the later kao with this hanko is on p. 141 of Catalog #7, dated 1965.

 

As Pete Klein pointed out, Catalog 7 has many examples of hakogaki of Dr. Torigoye and others that bear close study.

 

The notion that he used one kao or another for Edo vs. pre-Edo might be a confusion because of comments that have been made about the one mark vs. two mark variation in the Sado kao, supposedly a comment on quality.

 

On the other hand, it might be another creative invention of those we have all seen at sword shows who need to be saying something authoritative sounding even if they are mixing half-truths with nonsense. As long as it is said with conviction the new collector especially is impressed.

 

Craig

[Nobody]

Here is the translation. The picture of the tsuba was necessary to confirm my reading.

 

鐔 無銘 – Tsuba, Mumei

鉄地 撫丸形 – Tetsu-ji, Nade-maru-gata (oval shape)

車と兎 肉彫 – Kuruma to Usagi (Wheel and hare), Nikubori (relief)

竪 弐寸七分五厘 – Tate (length): 2-sun 7-bu 5-rin

横 弐寸六分 – Yoko (width): 2-sun 6-bu

右則亮作信家写ト鑑 – The item on the right is authenticated as a work by Norisuke to copy Nobuie’s.

昭和卅二年十一月吉日 – A lucky day in November of Showa 32nd year

杏堂 - Kyodo (reading?)

[Steve Waszak]

Many thanks, Moriyama-san, for your translation efforts. Very useful. Much appreciated... :D I was a little concerned that the box did not fit the tsuba, but it is quite clear that it does. Thanks again...

 

Craig,

 

Thanks to you, too, for your post here. Good thoughts. I have seen that "quality indicator" (one or two strokes on the kao) used with both the Kodo and the Sado kao. I have no idea how accurate the understanding is that these are reliable quality indicators, or that the Kodo kao was used for pre-Edo works, while the Sado kao was used for Edo pieces. Apparently, Bob Haynes has confirmed this understanding, but I don't know for sure... The tsuba in question here (and its hakogaki), though, would seem to contradict such an understanding...

 

Thanks again to those who responded to this thread...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[bridgeofdreams]

Steve,

 

I meant to add that's a very nice tsuba you have, thanks for sharing.

 

Just to clarify the way I read the comments Bob made in the catalog entries I read today, the Kodo kao was used by Torigoye early in his career, the Sado kao later. There's no hint that he used the kao to indicate anything about the tsuba, except the one or two strokes (I recall hearing one stroke for "first class" and two for "second class.")

 

Nothing I have ever read or heard before indicates that Dr. Torigoye used the kao to indicate the era of the tsuba.

 

I'll make a point of remembering to ask Bob about this when I give him a call next. Even though I'm not actively collecting I always learn something new.

 

- Craig

[Steve Waszak]

Hi Craig,

 

Thanks...

 

I'll be very interested to hear what you find out from Bob on this... I really have no idea on the matter of which kao Dr. Torigoye used when. So this is all a good learning opportunity for me. Thanks again, Craig.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[DirkO]

You can find some more hakogaki of Torigoye here :

 

http://www.silk-road.us/torigoye.html