And now for something completely different: Menuki

[Curran]

Searching on ko-Mino menuki, stumbled on something else.

This is a bit off color, so don't click on the link if you would be offended by Porn nihonto (Not = Nihonto Porn).

 

Having seen many many menuki designs, but not sure I've come across these before:

http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d128410116

[christianmalterre]

LOLOLOL!

(This must have ben an VERY Potent Samurai!-Or Samurai Lady? ?)

 

Christian

[watsonmil]

Dear Curran,

Oh, ... mine eyes. That is a menuki subject matter I have NEVER seen before. :lol: I wonder if they were meant for a lady Samurai, or perhaps a gay Samurai Thanks for sharing.

... Ron Watson

[Brian]

Where is that unusual menuki themes thread again? :lol:

Boring day for a menuki maker, or a wierd commission?

 

Brian

[Curran]

I blush to try and imagine.

 

Knowing nothing of Japan's courtesan culture, any chance the Madam of the hen-house would be permitted a weapon?

Though they look like phallic friends or protective sheaths, could they not also be a Lorena Bobbitt warning if placed on a tanto?

 

Sheer or ~shear~ speculation?

[John A Stuart]

The phallus [lingam] has long been a ritualistic object worldwide, never more so than in the East. Remember the Jomon sekibo? Anyhow it is the male principle and yang, signifying power and dominance. We have been sensitised to the prurient aspects of sex and the act. Blame our culture for that. I can't comment on what the artist or the person who might mount ( ) these menuki thought and you don't see them, but, they don't seem overtly sexual as is seen in shunga to me. They certainly would give an added dimension to a collection. John

[Baka Gaijin]

Evening all

 

The menuki may relate to the Hounen Festival that takes place March 15th each year.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8Dnen_Matsuri

 

Cheers

[runagmc]

Leave it to the phallic menuki to bring out the word play...

[Bazza]

...they don't seem overtly sexual as is seen in shunga to me. John

John,

Do you mean shunga in general outside sword fittings, or specifically shunga-themed sword fittings??? I have seen a photo of very explicit kozuka portraying genitalia and could probably find it amongst my voluminous "hard" drive holdings if interest is expressed.

 

I once read that such tosogu were worn by samurai on their wakizashi whilst out for a night in the Yoshiwara. If this was true we should surely see more of such themes???

 

Regards,

BaZZa.

[Drago]

Oh, that is something new.

 

(And I like that story about the Yoshiwara wakizashi)

 

BTW: The "unusual menuki thread" is here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8290

[Marc BROQUIN]

Hello all,

 

Excellent discovery !

 

According to the picture it as the form of what you know. But if you look at the other extremity they seem hollow. Should it be condoms ? LOL

 

Best

Marc

[John A Stuart]

Hi Barry, In general. There has always been examples of this type of art typically in smokers in gentlemens clubs, ie. bronzes of clothed maidens that opened to reveal the nude female form made by reputable artists and of an high quality. circa 1880's to 1920's, very collectable. Tastefully risque. It does seem something the well heeled man might wear on the prowl in the Yoshiwara, en masque. John

[Brian]

Bazza,

Would love to see pics of the kozuka if you can find them.

I think most of us are old enough to handle it :lol:

 

Brian

[christianmalterre]

Me Not!-LOL!

 

not old enough for such "delicate" questions here...

Could you show me an Koshirae En Suite perhaps???

(Much better!-am just expecting?...)???

LOL!

(Don´t worry-Be happy )

 

Christian

[Bazza]

Bazza,

Would love to see pics of the kozuka if you can find them.

I think most of us are old enough to handle it :lol:

 

Brian

Brian,

I've found the picture, but there is a surprising context. I've found some other pics as well of shunga tosogu and discussions from a few years ago from discussion list emails. There is a tsuba with hakogaki by Kanzan featuring nude women - I'd be surprised if I was the only person who preserved this. Anyone??

 

It will take me some time to investigate and absorb all the info and present it in a coherent fashion. I'll be back.

 

Regards,

BaZZa.

[Curran]

Many a risque kozuka I have seen, in no small part thanks to our wayward old friend Milt Ong.

He is much missed, though I think he had retired his nihonto interests.

 

BaZZa....

I don't think I have ever seen a tsuba depicting nude women.

As happily married as I am, I am still curious to see it. Just no touching allowed.

[IanB]

I was once told a tale, second or third hand and probably highly embellished, but what the heck. It concerned an old collector with a wicked sense of humour attending a meeting of the Japan Society during the early 1960's or thereabouts. Said collector had a wakizashi having all the mounts with a similar theme to the menuki that started this thread. Sadly I never saw the offending sword, but I was told the fuchi / gashira depicted a magnificent set of hairy male equipment in gold, red copper whilst the tsuba and other mounts had similar decoration. (Gives a whole new meaning to the term kin tama I suppose ). Imagine the scene, a roomful of old China hands who had served in the Empire with their ladies in flowered hats, earnest bespectacled scholars and 'Society types' who attend these events. After the formalities, various prints, paintings, inro, netsuke, pieces of lacquerware and the like were exhibited by those attendees who collected Japanese art, each object being suitably coo-ed over. At this point the collector pulled the wakizashi out of its brocade bag and handed it round. Absolutely no reaction whatsoever - nobody noticed.

Ian Bottomley

[Bazza]

Curran - some of what I'll reveal is a tip from Milt in 2003!! Happily I have the book referred to and can post scans.

 

Ian - the wakizashi must have been a sight!! In 2003 a correspondent wrote:

------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a catalog with a giant penis theme set of fittings.........tsuba,

kozuka, menuki etc.... pretty weird. Edo period.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I sincerely hope these fittings weren't ratted from from the wakizashi in question.

 

In response to the correspondent, Jim Gilbert wrote:

------------------------------------------------------------------

Any shunga fitting would be rather unusual, but I'd think that a shunga

theme tsuba would be a bit too obvious to wear. I have to wonder

whether even the few extant fittings were made for foreign sale rather than use.

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Again, as promised, I'll be back...

 

Regards,

BaZZa.

[kusunokimasahige]

Could this then be called: Shunga Tosogu ?

 

 

KM

[Grey Doffin]

Might have mounted well with this tsuba from my site:

http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/tsuba-%26-kodogu/t107-naughty-iron-tsuba

 

Grey

[Bazza]

All, sorry for the delay – I’ve had house guests for a few days attending an antique arms auction in this part of the world, and I’ve had an attack or two of ‘empty bottle’ along the way…

 

The tsuba presented here was offered for private auction sale on ebay in June 2005 by someone in Onomichi city, Hiroshima prefecture, Japan. First I’ll present the text of the sales pitch, then selected pictures, then finally the exchanges that ensued on the discussion list .

 

1. The sales pitch with original spelling:

--------------------------------------------

This is Tsuba.

There is a signature.

A signature is ITOU SHINSUI GAI SESSYUKOUKU.

With a paulownia box what KANZAN juged this Tsuba.

A time is not known in detail, but I think this Tsuba's ages seems 100 years ago.

It is constructed of gold inlay and silver inlay to copper.

This Tsuba made of cooperation of ITOU SHINSUI of famous painter at the Meiji Era.

I think this Tsuba's condition is good.

Since all portions and photographs are taken, please have a look slowly.

Since it is an old thing, please see goods well and offer a bid.

Size: Length about 3.5"(9.0cm) Width about 3.3"(8.5cm) with a box Weight about 370g

--------------------------------------------

2. First six of the selected pictures - continued in the next post. These were very low resolution images originally, unfortunately, but sufficient to show “what is what”.

[Bazza]

And a few more pictures continued from the above, with the discussion list comments in the next post:

[Bazza]

3. Now for some exchanges about the tsuba on the discussion list from June 2005. I have presented only the most illuminating contributions:

--------------------------------------------

COMMENT #1

No swordsman would wear this on his sword, not to a sword fight anyway. This is something you tuck in your pocket for a “buddies” meeting. The work is similar in style to other images with the theme of women bathing or women pearl divers. Ito Shinzui was a Nihonga painter famous for his Bijinga (Beautiful women) series. If I understand the description then this might be the work of someone related to a Meiji tsubako who signed Setsukoku.

 

The outside of the box says "Sumida-gawa no zu" or image of the Sumida river...

--------------------------------------------

COMMENT #2

Ito Shinsui (1898-1972) is a well known shin-hanga (modern woodblock print) artist. Artelino gives the following short biography:

 

Shinsui Ito learned the art of printmaking at a printing company in Tokyo from the early age of twelve. Later he studied under Kiyokata Kaburagi. He was approached by the publisher Watanabe through the mediation of his teacher Kiyokata Kaburagi and made the first bijin print in 1916. It was the beginning of a life-long cooperation between Watanabe and Shinsui Ito. The artist became one of the most appreciated Shin Hanga printmakers for bijin (beautiful women) and landscapes subjects. After World War II his contribution to the development of Japanese culture was honoured by declaring him an intangible national property and by other awards.

 

As the seller suggests, this tsuba was probably made by someone in collaboration with Shinsui, and not by Ito Shinsui himself. It is undoubtedly a modern (i.e. 20th century) piece (i.e. not only not Edo period, but not Meiji period either), possibly done by someone undertaking formal training in the fine arts as a course or term project.

--------------------------------------------

COMMENT #3

This tsuba has got to be post-WWII vintage, made for the benefit of occupying red haired orangutans, but, hey, money spends. It looks like decent metalwork, though almost entirely devoid of art. Exactly what a starving post-WWII metalworker would make for a GI with lotsa bucks (yen) to spend, a Japanese metalworker without much comprehension of the historic western aesthetic appreciation of the female form. Kinda like the early Western drawings of rhinoceros made on verbal description.

Essentially, it is the tsuba equivalent of the bigtits chrome female form often seen on the rear mud flaps of big rig trucks. It is regrettable that in order to eat, real craft gets dragged down to such low levels of "art". Sigh.

--------------------------------------------

 

The final scene in this tale is the following notice on ebay:

 

Current bid: US $1,125.00 (Reserve not met)

Ended: Jun-21-05 21:00:00 PDT

Start time: Jun-14-05 21:00:00 PDT

History: 32 bids (US $100.00 starting bid)

High bidder: User ID kept private

Item location: onomichi hirosihima, Japan

---------------------------------------------------

 

I hope this has been of interest to the Listeros. I'll work up the kozuka I mentioned and post it later, allowing some time for any discussion about the above tsuba.

 

Best regards,

BaZZa.

(aka Barry Thomas)

[kusunokimasahige]

We all know someone from Onomichi, Hiroshima Ken

 

KM

[Brian]

Bazza,

It's amazing...I still have the old NMB archived for info. Wow....look at that color scheme

Here is some more very interesting info and closer pics of that tsuba.

http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/niho ... php?p=9101

That bridge and those fireworks...can't be too antique.

 

Brian

[Ford Hallam]

Brian,

 

the age of the work is quite definitely defined by the life time of the artist who's painting is depicted.

 

As I wrote on the earlier thread;

"

The apparent "collaboration" with Ito Shinsui would appear to be based on copying one of his paintings. Ito Shinsui was renowned for his :bijinga", paintings of beauties, including partially clad, or nude ones. He lived from 1898 until 1972"

 

I think it reasonable to assume the tsuba could only have been made post 1925...ish. probably much later.