Nice Tsuba With Varous Religious Figures (Any Ideas Who, When Made?)

[TETSUGENDO]

Grant,

 

Your have a very beautiful piece of " SOTEN STYLE" work produced in the secound half of the 19TH CENTURY.  It is a fine piece of workmanship in extremely perilous condition.  YOU SHOULD DO NOTHING TO IT....NOTHING!  Please, no rubbing, no scrubbing, no brushes.....NO!  Heed FORD'S advice- someone who knows what they are doing can set this piece right- it needs EXPERT cleaning and a new foundation (Patina) to stabilize it. A competant restorer will give it a light vegetable wax finish -NO OIL!  

 

Steven K

 

ps- EVERYONE......THINK!, BEFORE YOU SCRUB.

[ggil]

To Tesugendo,

 

Agreed about restoration.  Piece is going to Ford, to be attended to properly.  He will make sure it is preserved properly, and will be able to tell me pretty accurately, about when the work was made, when he has it in hand (i'm sure).  I feel fortunate that he has an interest in it, and wants to attend to it.  Thanks for the input (reminder to avoid damaging/changing antique art), and giving me your input as to when the piece was made.

 

-Grant

[TETSUGENDO]

GRANT,

 

You are most welcome.  So glad to hear about Ford taking care of things - you are in most capable hands.  It should be beautiful when he is done with it, can't wait to see it.

 

Steven K

[ggil]

What do you all think? I am very pleased. Ford states that his treatment of the silver will mature after a few months, which I'll post pictures of.

 

- Grant

[Stephen]

Fan Fing tastic!!! shows what the right restor can accomplish, going to love watching this cure. 

[ggil]

 

from an email from Ford (save him re-typing here):

So here's what I can now say about the work.

 

The plate is very finely forged iron. A pic of the edge reveals a very fine layering. This is to be expected in work that is so elaborately carved. You wouldn't want any nasty surprises half way though carving.

 

All the gold detail is not, as we assumed at first, nunome-zogan but is actually all true inlay. This explains how so much remains despite the rust, which would have been disastrous for fine nunome-zogan such as we see on Soten style work. This then suggests a Soten label is not appropriate.

In one or two place where the gold inlay has fallen out there's clear evidence of it having been true 'hon'zogan'. Again, pics I took show this nicely.

One of the gold spots on the deer's bum is missing and a neat recess remains.

 

All the flames on the dragon are actually solid gold (probably around 20ct), not foil covered or gilded, but one solid piece of gold. This suggests, along with the complexity of the carving and composition, that someone wanted all the 'bells and whistles' and speared no expense.

 

We might speculate as to school or artists but to be honest any number of artists working in the latter half of the Edo period could have made the piece. The quality is very good and it was probably ordered to impress. Unlikely to have been worn by a samurai given the subject matter but many wealthy merchants were granted the privilege of wearing a short sword. (Ebisu and Hotei are 'Gods of wealth and prosperity' revered by the merchant class, and Samurai ought to despise money)

 

So there it is, not quite like it was the day it was finished but about as close as I think anyone could achieve.

 

I'm particularly satisfied with the way the iron patina has recovered and the copper inserts in the nakago ana have coloured up. The silver has been very lightly treated to help to mellow in a short while. I don't like to be too heavy handed because that tends to cause it all to go too dark too quickly. In a few months and it'll be perfect.

 

 

 

Grant

[Gordon Sanders]

That is an incredible piece. Great purchase Grant and amazing work Ford!!!

[Brian]

Absolutely fantastic! That is an amazing transformation. I think your investment was clearly a very sound one. With the restoration, you have a VERY good piece there. I'm amazed at some of the detail. Enjoy, and well done to Ford.

[jason_mazzy]

holy SHIP! I am bummed you won that over me.

[John A Stuart]

Marvelous reconditioning Ford. It sure makes that tsuba something. John

[ROKUJURO]

What a wonderful piece of art came out under the 'protective dirt'! High quality, saved by Ford's magical hands! 

[ggil]

To Jason, Sorry bout that Sir. I had you by only $40, so pretty lucky for me (your max:968, mine:1009). If it's any consolation, I will cherish it and so will my eldest daughter (she is becoming quite a lady and loves Tsuba, so it may go to her someday). Honestly, the fact that you are bummed actually makes it just a bit better for me, as you know your stuff. Anyway, may you be blessed with good luck this year in your hunt for horidaishimono...

 

- Grant

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks gents, for the very generous compliments.

 

It was quite a fussy job but once I started to get 'under the skin' so to speak it rapidly became clear the effort would pay off. And thanks to Grant are due also. He was completely invested in us achieving the best results possible and those the piece merited.

 

As was mentioned the silver may seem a little white right, actually less so in hand when the metallic qualities re more evident, but within a couple of months it will all have mellowed down and look like it's just been well cared for for 200 years.

 

kind regards to all

 

Ford

[ggil]

Since I have no experience, and I was dealing with such a well respected artist, full artist's discretion was due. Once again, luck prevails, and come to find out the good reputation is fully deserved. While Ford is quite busy, he was patient, kind, and quite professional. Although I have no basis for saying so, I feel like Ford gave me a great deal too, and you can see that sometimes my feelings serve me well. If I ever get a chance to own one of his pieces, I could see myself sleeping in the doghouse after purchasing one.

 

-Grant

[SteveM]

Very, very impressive. The original pictures posted a couple of months ago didn't suggest such a fine piece to me. Goes to show that often our assumptions made based on photos, cannot be entirely trusted. What a great find, and great restoration.

[TETSUGENDO]

Grant,

 

I am very happy to see such wonderful results, Ford did a stunning job!  This is a very sympathetic piece of work, as notable for what was not done as much as for what was.  I marvel at the restraint.  The color and surface both look great...you must be so  pleased.

 

Steven K

[Greg F]

Wow great work Ford and congrats Grant. You made 2 great choices in buying and restoring this beautiful tsuba. Cheers.

 

Greg

[Stephen]

I would be interested in what the instructions are for caring for this restro. Just boxed thats it? 

[Ford Hallam]

Keep it dry and use gloves when handling if possible. Storage in a well made kiri-bako should suffice.

Don't fiddle with it. :-)

[Darcy]

holy SHIP! I am bummed you won that over me.

 

 

Sometimes you gotta know when to pull the trigger.

 

This came out really nice (the tsuba).

[jason_mazzy]

Sometimes you gotta know when to pull the trigger.

 

This came out really nice (the tsuba).

lol I did pull the trigger. i was working on a better deal through messaging also.

[ggil]

Wow, this thing looks way too nice! Thinking about contacting some museums and see if there is interest in displaying this. It's such a flashy eye catcher, with glaringly obvious charm and depth of emotion. While subtle symbology and natural uses of space may be lost on people (been reading Ford's forum obviously), this thing seems made to impress anybody. I am going to get this to a photographer friend of mine and see what he can do with it for the NMB pictures. Holy s*&t! Ford, a-freaking-mazing! You are getting a tip from this Yank.

 

 

- Grant

[SwordGuyJoe]

Museums: Where quality work goes to die...

 

Amazing work Ford.

[ggil]

_{goes to die, or goes to retire?  As this piece was never really a 'worker' anyway (the original owner probably hardly knew how to use a sword), it has likely spent its entire life in retirement.  Anything is better than locked away in my safe, although this would be the traditional place to keep these things (kept put away according to Ford).} 

 

_{This piece may have the mass appeal to attract some interest, and help bolster value of this art form, and tradition in general.  Some of the guys in the sword club write and/or have written books, so maybe this can wind up in a book or two eventually.  It will likely be displayed at the annual cherry blossom festival in Japantown SF, at least.}

 

_{What is there to do with it, anyway?  I have a blade that could use it, but to what end?  No plan to start swinging old blades/fittings around, as I don't know kendo and my free time is spent with jujitsu, (amateur) saya/tsuka-maki, a plethora of husband/dad duties (labor of/with love, of course), and our friendships take maintenance too.  Don't want this piece to die though...}

 

_{-Grant G.}

[Stephen]

Sell it MHO

[ggil]

Whatever Stephen.  You gonna tell me why?  you don't want to hurt my feelings?  I have no idea why you are saying this.  Conjecture is going to lead me to say something more stupid than normal.

-Grant G.

[Ford Hallam]

er, I don't recall suggesting this:

 

Anything is better than locked away in my safe, although this would be the traditional place to keep these things (kept put away according to Ford). 

 

 

 

To quote myself:

 

Displaying tsuba is a very western thing. Traditionally your art treasures were kept stored away and only brought out to appreciate when you had the leisure time to properly do so.

Even where a householder may put a vase, with a flower arrangement in, and a hanging scroll in a tokonoma for display it will be the only items on show. These would be changed as the circumstances dictate, seasons, festivals, cultural gatherings etc.

 

 

 

 

 

But sadly, Joe is mostly correct. There is a vast collection of tosogu languishing in hundreds of museums all over the world. Even famous institutions have far too many items they can reasonably hope to document, maintain adequately or even come close to displaying. If you've ever seen images of aircraft 'graveyards' in the deserts of the USA then you may be able to get an idea of what I'm describing as the fate of thousands of tosogu....among which are without doubt many as yet unrecognised works by some of the top ranked masters of the past.

 

But an ambitious global scheme is being hatched , allied with a audacious program of materials analysis to provide a date/school/location database, to rescue these precious 'windows on the past' we so love and revere.

 

In conjunction with the leading company in hand held metal analysis devices (we're talking genuine Star Trek 'widdly wee' guns) and the venerable V&A (and my good friend, senior curator, Greg Irvine) exploratory trial sample runs are already planned for March. With a broad enough database I'm hoping to be able to present patterns in respect to composition of alloys (with special focus on trace metals and other elements) that may ultimately lead to a coherent chronology, geographic location and maybe even school. The research I've been doing over the past 18 months on my long over due book has made the usefulness of this data, in the correct context, glaringly clear and it's actual interpretation fairly intuitive once the historical back story and realities of metallurgy is understood.

 

This is all fairly standard fare in the rest of the antique art world in the 21st century, we just need to nudge, coax,...drag, the 19th century world of tosogu up to present. Then we might actually be able to begin to form ideas of the history of this tradition based on objective information rather than 'folk tales'.

[Stephen]

You seemed to be burdened with it, you have done your part of saving it, i just stated one option...no need to get in a huff. 

[SwordGuyJoe]

Museums: Where quality work goes to die...

Die. Not retire.

[Kevin Adams]

It's such a flashy eye catcher, with glaringly obvious charm and depth of emotion. While subtle symbology and natural uses of space may be lost on people (been reading Ford's forum obviously), this thing seems made to impress anybody. I am going to get this to a photographer friend of mine and see what he can do with it for the NMB pictures."

 

 

Dunno, I think this is reason enough to keep it, study it more and just admire it from time to time - you've managed to acquire and organize the restoration of a piece that is above and beyond most Soten and Soten-styled work. Maybe instead of handing it off to a museum, you can use it as a springboard into a detailed analysis of the symbology and uses of space. I've noticed a remarkable lack of detailed information about work like this, I think you have a great opportunity for study. And to share your results, of course.