Tsuba Kantei for Fun and Education

[Curran]

Alright...

 

Part of this I have known a long time, and part of it I recently learned:

 

This tsuba is signed by the maker on the back.

It is one of his most popular designs and can be found attributed to him in a few books.

 

(#1) Identify the maker (partial credit for school)

 

Now the hard part:

 

(#2) Identify the specific theme and (historical, literary, or religious) reference associated.

 

If someone hits #2 solidly, I will donate another $10 to the NMB in that person's name.

[Mark]

probably too much egg nog but my hazy look gives me the impression of Akasaka Tada????

[John A Stuart]

Sakura floating down the river Sumida (is it?) An impermanence and march of time theme. Methinks. John

[Guido]

Identify the specific theme

Yoshinogawa? Just off of the back of my head ...

[Bugyotsuji]

Assuming the pioneers above are correct, then in that case, 無常 Mujo... ... ... ? 無常

[Marc BROQUIN]

Hello All,

 

May I propose a school and a name ?

 

The large roundness of the seppa-dai makes me think to Higo, the structure of the design too.

 

My guess would be HAYASHI TOHACHI, 3rd HAYASHI. (cf. N° 119, HAYASHI book, Mr ITO)

 

Happy Christmas to all, enjoy the year end and a lot of wishes for this new year 2012.

 

Marc

[Marc BROQUIN]

Hello,

I read on Mr ITO book : SAKURAGAWA design

But SAKURAGAWA is a city and not a river according to the references I got.....

So ?

Marc

[Brian]

Marc,

I had the same thing. My references led me to Sakuragawa, but most of the info on that is a modern city.

Of course the theme is cherry blossoms on waves, but there is an element to the left that I am uncertain of. Beautiful tsuba though.

 

Brian

[Curran]

Marc is closer than Mark.

Check the other Ito-san books.

Please keep looking, as at the end of this exercise I can reference 3 or 4 of these. They sometimes show up unsigned, signed, and signed and dated. I have seen at least one of each. There is also a quirk to this artists signature that is worth learning (just as there is with Shozui and with Tadashige.... a quirk that allows relatively strong affirmation of signature without even having to hit the books).

 

Guido, please explain further.

[Pete Klein]

Interesting Noh reference: http://www.the-noh.com/en/plays/data/program_039.html

 

Brian -- that might be an piece of grass with dew on it as seen in some Akasaka tsuba.

Also, Yoshino was considered a prime area for viewing of the blossoms.

[Henry Wilson]

They are blossoms on sea waves. One blossom looks like it is being consumed by the waves and the others appear to be getting tossed around. I think it represents the battle at Dan no Ura 壇ノ浦の戦, the defeat of the Taira by the Minamoto and the start of the Shogunate system.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dan-no-ura

 

Happy Holidays!!

[Guido]

Guido, please explain further.

The Yoshinogawa with its strong current and rapids was - and still is - famous for its cherry blossoms along the river banks (like your Tsuba), and IIRC, there are some Waka poems describing this.

 

There are also related Bunraku and Kabuki plays that use the Sakura at the Yoshinogawa as a background, although I doubt that something that bourgois (to the Buke, at least) would have inspired a Tsuba design:

http://www.kabuki21.com/yoshinogawa.php

http://web-Japan.org/museum/kabuki/kabu ... ki_02.html

[Marc BROQUIN]

I have found another possibility :

NISHIGAKI KANPEI but the obverse of the reference tsuba, at the end of ITO NISHIGAKI book bears some typical Higo hirazogan.

Is it the case in your's Curran ?

Best

Marc

[Pete Klein]

I think Marc is onto something. I've seen a picture of another, signed example which is almost exactly the same design as Curran's.

[Curran]

Marc,

 

If you are able to post a scan, please do so.

Otherwise, I will when I return home after the holidays.

 

Mine has no goldwork.

For now, here is another one for comparison to the one I own and the tsuba you reference in the Nishigaki book.

[Brian]

Is it my imagination, or are we seeing from lower left anti-clockwise...the blossom on the tree branch, then the wind, then the waves...then the blossoms on the water?..... (and then that one element I still can't identify properly)

 

Brian

[Curran]

Brian:

Basically, Yes. Sakura (or other flower) on high. Then on the water. Then under water.

 

Guido: Given the active period of the smith Marc suggested and Peter seconded, does a search of any of the poems put up a well known match?

(This is something I thought a given, but am now unsure of as I have read different translations. However, I have seen before tsuba from this school and time period that are taken directly from this poet's works.)

[Pete Klein]

I feel like Johnny from the movie, 'Airplane'; "Well, it could be a rock, or it could be a wave, or it could be swirling water... Ok -- I'll sit down now..."

[Brian]

Well...I think this is the circle of life.... sakura on the tree, then the wind blows it off, into the water where it is washed away and oneday back onto land, where the tree grows and the cycle continues. But whether it indicates a specific battle or political event or........, I have no idea.

I don't have enough books to be able to research the maker, so hoping others have the resources.

 

Brian

[Marc BROQUIN]

Hello all,

I cannot say still about thema.

 

if you look at the 3 cherry flowers :

- one seems half open

- the second seems full open

both of them are "transparent"

- the third seems faded and plain.

 

So this evocates the circle of life brought by a stream, course of the time.

 

Just a guess.

Tomorrow I will take pictures of both pages of Mr ITO books

 

Bestr

Marc

[myochin]

My first reaction was also yoshino-gawa, but the "wave" throws me off.

Is this a "mud-wave" (doro-nami 泥波) ?

 

Paul.

[Curran]

I opened this topic for fun, because it seems slow on NMB and I figured it might be a small fun educational thread.

After some of the points made here, I am a bit less sure of the conclusion I was going to share. I am going to prune it down to some basic info.

 

 

Smith: Nishigaki Kanpei

He was the younger brother of the 2nd gen Kanshiro (Nishigaki master).

Active period was basically the same as his brother's (b.1639- d.1717) , perhaps lagging by a few years. Lived to a similar age, but date of death unknown. Lived to at least age 76 (signed tsuba)

 

Influences: Like his brother, Kanpei was influenced by the literature of the time. Influenced by Ihara Saikaku, Matsuo Basho, and others.

 

One of Matsuo Basho's better known poems: (**Nijiko is an area of the Yoshino River known for powerful rapids.)

 

Petal by Petal

At Yoshino River

the mountain roses at the riverbank

in the blowing wind

even the reflections in the depths

are scattered.

 

Now then, Mountain Rose does not = Sakura

They do come in several forms in Japan and Korea. The most distinct being the yellow variety, but also see picture of Mountain Rose.

 

So, nothing conclusive.... but I like to interpret this design which was often done by Kanpei as his visualization of Basho's poem.

There are other poems about the stages of the life of a flower (as Brian highlighted) that allude to the cycle of life and transient nature of samurai lives.

 

To sum it up, if you see this design with the flower indenting the kashira ana and the rapids... seems to be a favorite of Kanpei that I have not seen in any other school (yet).

 

*** On signed ones.... point to look for is that Kanpei seems to have had a quirk where he liked to have the down stroke of his "pei" character curve left a bit and point straight at a continuation stroke in the "saku" character.

[ububob]

Thanks to all who contributed for a most teachable moment. :D

[cabowen]

nice tsuba...

 

FYI, it is actually Matsuo Basho, not Matsu...

[Curran]

Chris: Oops. My fault, since I knew better.

Markus can share some of the blame, since I was typing from notes he originally provided.

 

Bob...,I am glad to see you here. I had wondered if you or John Stuart might manage to find some literary passes that fit the theme. While I have read a a good number of Basho's poems, I don't know my Japanese lit very well.

[Brian]

I had suspected the theme was related to Basho, but couldn't find a link..probably because I was looking for sakura references.

However your pic of the mountain rose looks spot on to me...even more so that cherry blossoms. Could these be what is depicted on some tosogu instead of cherry blossoms? Any side by side comparisson of the 2 blossoms? An interested excercise, thanks Curran.

 

Brian

[Ruben]

Hi Gentlemen,

 

nice topic, discussion and tsuba.

Nothing realy usefull to add, but I think it´s not possible to say if its flower from rose or cherry tree, cause they are from the same family, like pear, apple and other stone fruits. So I think it´s like Marc said, 1 to 3 the Last blossom is ripe and is maybe falling to ground or is already there, (like a elegant worrior that looses his rouged head, sorry for this, it´s just on my mind).

 

 

sincer regards

 

ruben