Jump to content

sabiji

Members
  • Posts

    220
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Location:
    Berlin, Germany.

Profile Fields

  • Name
    Thomas S.

Recent Profile Visitors

1,650 profile views

sabiji's Achievements

Community Regular

Community Regular (8/14)

  • Dedicated
  • Reacting Well
  • First Post
  • Collaborator
  • Very Popular Rare

Recent Badges

207

Reputation

  1. Everything is correct, nobody knows for sure. We can only put forward theories. Ultimately, it is we ourselves who make a religion out of it, because we like to pigeonhole everything. We don't feel comfortable if we can't do this. The best example is Shoami. Defining a Shoami style is like squaring the circle. They seem to have been extremely broad in terms of the realization of designs, but also manufacturing techniques. In the early period, they seem to have moved somewhere between the styles that we think can be relatively safely described as owari or kyo-sukashi. At least as far as sukashi tsuba are concerned. We know next to nothing about the shoami before 1600, except that they were doboshu and silversmiths in the service of the ashikaga bakufu. In comparison to the early goto, there were also no genealogies of shoami masters. Well, they were obviously not of noble origin. And yet, from the early Edo period onwards, Shoami branches spread throughout Japan, developing their own characteristic styles. The Shoami therefore seem to have had an importance in Kyoto even before this development, which "we" possibly underestimate - precisely because we don't know it. But why should we, the "non-experts", not think about possible backgrounds or question things? That's what makes our hobby interesting.
  2. I don't see a problem with the different attributions. Especially in the late Muromachi, Momoyama and early Edo periods, the different workshops in Kyoto will have influenced each other strongly anyway. The tsuba combines characteristics that speak for (Ko) Shoami as well as for the Kyo-Sukashi type. The hitsu ana, which are formed from extremely slender-looking myoga, are typically very wide for shoami. However, the elongated and slender seppadai and the symmetrical basic concept of the design make the pendulum swing more towards the kyo sukashi type.
  3. sabiji

    Kanji quiz

    Is this the same exhibition that was recently on display at the NBTHK Museum in Ryogoku in January/February 2024?
  4. The Juyo Token nado Zufu of the 25th Juyo session should describe a wakizashi from Kinju's son Kaneyuki. Could someone help me out with a photo of the setsumei and the oshigata? I would really appreciate it!
  5. If this is correct and if I have calculated correctly (and have not mixed up the previous percentages), then this would be the highest failure rate to date at 93.23%.
  6. I see it the same way as Florian. On the one hand, there are koshirae who show or have to show kamon/futsuumeishi on formal and official occasions. On the other hand, we have the fashions of "urban bourgeois culture", or even those who follow these fashions. These are purely decorative aspects without any deeper meaning. It's just meant to please. You can see certain identical designs on tsuba in different qualities in order to be able to serve a broad clientele. Of course, some tsuba may have a direct connection to a clan. But often people simply wore what they liked - which is the main purpose of an uchigatana koshirae in civilian life. It is a calling card of the wearer's status, aesthetic taste, education or simply certain preferences within the social rules of the time. At least that's my opinion.
  7. Well, I think I can still recognize the kanji "kane" just above the suriage in a way that was common in the Sue Mino. Then also on the omote as katana mei. I would rather be in the Sue Koto than around 1300.
  8. sabiji

    Goto workshops

    Then I will have to be patient...
  9. sabiji

    Goto workshops

    It's not my area of interest, so I don't have any literature on it. Unfortunately, I can't find anything online either. But my question relates to another problem I'm currently researching: does anyone have any information about the location(s) of the Goto workshops during the Momoyama period? Many thanks in advance!
  10. Looks more like a Yamashiro utsushi at first glance. Momoyama to early Edo. Tanto from Kyoto have always been in demand (Awataguchi, Rai). After the Kyoto exodus with the end of Kamakura and at the latest from Onin the source dried up. So many smiths copied e.g. also Rai. It seems to have Masame, or at least Nagare in Shinogi-ji, plus the Sakisori. Therefore my idea would be something between Tensho and Keicho.
  11. Well, I'm surprised! Am I the only one who sees it that way? Take a finely woven fabric and lay it in several folds. That's all. I once owned a Kunikane and a Suifu Masakatsu (I think a nephew of Katsumura Norikatsu). If you look closely at the hada, you will find a fine ko-mokume between the layers of masame.
  12. To come back to Masame-Hada. Basically, in none of the examples we have a pure Masame Hada, but rather a combination of a primary Hada (komokume/koitame) and the secondary Hada, in which the Ko Hada is then placed in parallel layers (Masame). The corresponding ratio of this combination and how cleanly these layers run (more even or wavy) would be an important aesthetic factor, at least for me. Utsushi in particular sometimes seem too deliberate and too stiff for me. But that's just my opinion.
  13. Really? I don't think that the sword market is declining. On the contrary, it is growing and growing, and adapting to the times and opening up more and more to the foreign market with English language websites. The Samurai Museum is the example of this. I think we've become quite spoiled by now. 20 years ago, buying in Japan was an adventure, communication was very rudimentary, paying was really exciting, and there was no tracking. Only customs was easier, at least in my cases. Back then, if you were looking for a sword of a certain school, you would get one, rarely two offers with a price that said buy it or leave it. Today, with a little research, you have a wide choice. Pure luxury. Also the service has become much better, swords polished, swords to Shinsa, experts can ask, literature, sword forums, etc.. Yes, this brings opportunities, but also problems. Chances to find with a little patience exactly what meets the own demand and budget. But also the problem to bring something on the market, which does not get the desired attention and the once invested amount is halfway recovered, because interested parties have a wider choice. Where real quality always finds a corresponding customer.
  14. That is relative. This year I was interested in a sword at Aoi Art, which was quite fresh on offer there, and unfortunately already turned out to be reserved. Upon further research, it turned out that exactly this sword was previously offered at the Samurai Museum - and above all: cheaper.
×
×
  • Create New...