VOC logo on Namban tsuba

[Peter Bleed]

Friends,

Allow me to ask anothrer question about Namban tsuba.

I enjoy auricular Namban guards becasue it is easy to see in them evidence of cosmopolitan sword culture. Some Namban tsuba had explicit "VOC" markings, suggesting that they were made for men who were associated with the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, the Dutch East India Company.

Recently, I have convinced myself that some Namban tsuba had more subtle referents to the VOC in their undercut floral elements

Please look at the design inside from the round-eyed, long-hair fellow on the side of this auricular tsuba.

Is this a VOC design?

 

Peter

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, you have convinced me. In juxtaposition with your chappie there, then I would say almost certainly yes...

[docliss]

Greetings, Peter. I have always supposed that the VOC logo features on many auriculate tsuba for two possible reasons. Either, when present as a kebori logo and hidden by the seppa when mounted, as an indication of the tsuba’s manufacture by that company or, as a decorative element, which must have been ubiquitous in Japan at the time and place of the production of such tsuba. That it featured as a decoration on tsuba made specifically for a bearer associated with the Dutch East India Company is, indeed, a third possibility.

 

As to whether the VOC logo is incorporated into the beautiful karakusa-moyō work beneath the taotie on your tsuba is an impossible question to answer definitively. Personally, I suspect that it is present merely in the eye of the beholder.

 

John L.

[Brian]

Hope I'm not hijacking your thread Peter..

Just out of interest, here is one I have (compliments of Ludolf..thanks!)

Although a bit hard to see in the scan, features a similar theme, and also has the VOC symbol. Not sure what the "N" is for, and if it is just some random copied letter. I assume the VOC theme was/is a common one.

 

Brian

[Peter Bleed]

Dear Friends,

Thanks for the interesting discussion. Let me show you another tsuba.

This is not auriculate, but well-made and symmetical in that it presents a pair of dragons "affronte" (thank you John, gotta love those arty terms). Look at the dragon claws at 4:00 and 8:00. In both I see the VOC logo. Is this merely my imagination or was the logo presented there by the artist. Was he hiding it? Or am I pushing too hard to wonder if he was presenting the VOC as a grasping foreign system? The rendering is less than perfect, but the artisan was probably less than expert with romaji. Beyond that the tradtion of placing kanji in images was well-established in East Asia and supported by the license of grass writing.

John asks the the right question. Just because I can see these things (and Piers agrees), does that means that they were intentionally introduced.

I am leaning toward beleiving that they WERE intentional, if only becasue they are NOT universal. Most karakusa foliage Namban tsuba seem NOT to have VOC's.

So there's the challenge. Go look at your Namban guards. Do you see a VOC

Peter

[Justin Grant]

Peter, et al,

 

These tsuba, and trying to see an image, are like the posters of the early 90's where you had to look at them to see some obscure image in them. I could never see what other saw.. Simple mind I have, I guess.

 

Anyway, for us less gifted, would someone please highlight the "VOC" so I too can play along?

[John A Stuart]

Just for reference, the logo. John

[docliss]

I am intrigued by the ‘N’ on Brian’s tsuba. Frequently the VOC logo of the Dutch East India Company was accompanied by a letter representing one of the six chambers. Thus:

A represents Amsterdam

D Delft

E Enkhuizen

H Hoorn

M or MZ Zeeland (in Middelberg) and

R Rotterdam.

 

 

But I do not know what the ‘N’ represents, and have never before seen a chamber letter on a tsuba.

 

John L.

[Peter Bleed]

Sorry, I was not trying to be difficult. I just have no skill with image manipulation. I have tried to outline the features I am focussing on. Thank you John for posting the VOC logo.

But while I was at it. I have also (crudely) outlined the area where the two dragons meet at the bottom of the tsuba.

On many Namban tsuba, - as well as on a great many European smallsword guards - this spot on the center bottom is covered with a grotesque face. John compares these to Chinese taotie. But look at how the dragons meet. I see a square-eyed, broad nosed face in that intertwined mass.

Peter

[John A Stuart]

I wonder if the karakusa design elements are the floral work that does not intersect as seen in Japanese, Arabian, Chinese design or even in Dutch arabesque (as on Delft ware) and the knotted design a seperate design element derived from strictly European source design elements. Looking at Asian arabesque work does not show this knotted design. It does appear in Arabian design. John

[Bugyotsuji]

Quote: I see a square-eyed, broad nosed face in that intertwined mass.

 

But would it not be 'upside down', Peter?

[docliss]

To return to the enigma of the ‘N’ on Brian’s tsuba, while it is true that there were only six chambers comprising the Dutch East India Company, as listed above, there have been discussions regarding the authenticity of a seventh flag bearing the VOC cypher, with a ‘C’ above it – the so-called Cape Chamber flag. This misunderstanding appears to have arisen as a result of the custom of the VOC to use its logo, together with the initial of the local base or office, on crockery, silverware and headed notepaper used in that area. Is it possible that the ‘N’ on Brian’s tsuba was used in this way to represent the area of Nagasaki?

 

John L.

[Brian]

John,

I know very little about the VOC, although I remember it was part of my early school studies with its South African and Cape connections.

I had always assumed that many of the letters and other motiffs on Namban tsuba were just "doodles" done by craftsmen unfamilair with the Western language and the alphabet. But the more I think about it, the less sense that makes. It seems to me that the "N" must be a very deliberate and intentional depiction, and now you have me intrigued

I can post further pics if anyone requests.

Were the odd little faces on these tsuba representations of how they saw Westerners/sailors in those days?

 

Brian

[docliss]

Brian, I believe that ‘the odd little faces’ that you describe have their origin in taotie. These zoomorphic heads are a recurrent theme in Chinese art, dating back to the early Shang period (1600-1050 BC), and are a further confirmation of the strong Chinese influence upon this sub-group of tsuba. They are described as being characterised by a pair of eyes; a wide central ridge representing a nose; an upper jaw; and two front paws. The brow commonly has two domes, and may possess a pair of horns. That such features may have, in some instances, been later modified to mimic the imagined features of Westerners is not improbable.

 

John L.