Kogai

[Pete Klein]

We in the fittings field tend to get a bit caught up with tsuba and sometimes forget about the other fittings involved in the study. Just for fun I thought I'd post a nice kogai. Primarily used for court appearances to dress the samurai hair, it is the second rank fitting behind menuki which is considered first in importance.

This is TBH papered to Ko Kinko and is in excellent condition having only minimal loss to the gold uttori. It is mumei (all are unsigned if Ko Kinko) and represents a water foliage scene.

[Pete Klein]

close up:

[John A Stuart]

I really like the colour of this kogai. I had understood that one of their functions was to identify a battlefield kill for later retrieval of the head. Of course during the Edojidai peace they became decorative objects while maintaining the toilet function, in regards of the ears. Curiously, though, I am aware of hair ornamentation for males especially pre Tokugawa times but I had not been aware of their use as hair pieces. john

[Pete Klein]

Hello John -- apparently they were used to fix the hair prior to return to court. This is why when viewing pre Edo tsuba you can assume the rank of the owner if there is a kogai bitsu. Lower rank would not require one and would have only a kozuka bitsu or none at all. Into Edo they became more ornamental and therefore you see an increase in tsuba with both hitsuana. And yes, the mimikaki at the end is an ear scoop for hygene.

There are of course less ornamental pieces which were used for the field, often of yamagane. I would assume the shakudo ones with ornamentation were for very high rank and/or formal dress. Unfortunately not much is available in English on this.

The colour of this piece is nice and thank you for mentioning it. The shakudo is raven's black and the gold shows kinsabi, traces of orange-red often referred to as 'gold rust' from age. The depth of black is a hallmark for quality in these pieces. I was quite fortunate to be able to procure this piece several years ago from Mr. Benson in Hawaii. He is one of my 'enablers'! LOL

[Brian]

Lovely kogai, and in fantastic condition.

I also understood them to be for hair preparation and the ear hygeine issue. I think the "head marking" thing is a fallacy imho.

Pete, when you rank menuki first and then kogai in importance, is that excluding tsuba? Was this an importance ranking when attending court?

 

Brian

[Pete Klein]

Hi Brian! Thanks much. The ranking is actually a throw back to the Goto school (as best I understand it) and is the rank of importance to the individual pieces of kodogu.

1) menuki -- the omote is higher in rank than the ura.

2) kogai

3) kozuka

4) fuchi/kashira

5) tsuba

6) all other pieces of the soroimono (uniform objects) such as the kurikata, orikane, etc.

 

Interestingly when you see menuki, one of gold and the other of shakudo in a matching pair, the gold is for the omote, the shakudo the ura, as the rank is higher for the omote. This also is indicative of the placement of the kogai on the omote and the kozuka the ura (although in Edo jidai this became more flexible). As for tsuba, they were not made by the early Goto masters, the first being made by Tokojou, the fifth Shirobei if memory serves. I have to wonder if this was due to these early fittings being made for aikuchi koshirae, therefore negating the need for tsuba. Just a guess on that one.

 

For anyone interested in reading I would point out an article in 'Bushido' magazine, volume I, # 3, on the Shirobei Goto School. It is excellent and worth obtaining. Also Rich Turner has the transcription of the Alexander Mosle article from the 'Transactions and Proceedings of the Japanese Society of London, vol. VIII' on the Goto Shirobei family on his blog. Again worth the read if you are into these fittings.

 

(Bushido magazine copies are available from:

http://www.bushidojapaneseswords.com/

under books)

 

PS: I've had some doubt about the head thing also but I suppose it's possible. It just seems a bit limiting as you could only mark one! LOL

[Martin]

Hi all,

 

recently found some information on Kogai and maybe here is the right place to post it:

 

http://www.google.de/books?id=J5PgapzD6 ... 3t7i5qrNFs

 

cheers,

[Brian]

Ah yes, Stones...

Once of the most superb general weapons references.

It belongs in every reference library, and has extensive info on Japanese arms and armour. One of my favorite books when it comes to all arms subjects. Some of the info is a bit dated or concise, and the pics are not fantastic, but it is a great reference and has a lot of info on more obscure items that we don't see anywhere else.

 

Brian

[Rich T]

There are of course less ornamental pieces which were used for the field, often of yamagane. I would assume the shakudo ones with ornamentation were for very high rank and/or formal dress. Unfortunately not much is available in English on this.

 

Great to see another mighty piece of Kodogu out there. I like Pete's point on lower end pieces used in battle as apposed to court wear. Though not too low end (it's quite nice really) this is a mid Muromachi period Yamagane Ko Kinko kogai with plenty of old lacquer left on the Jiban. Nearly all the Utori is gone through ware but the gold dots that make up the center of the foliage surounding the gourds are still in tact.

 

The colour is not accurate from the scan, it is a deeper richer darker red/brown than this. All in all, it is still in excellent condition for something so old.

 

I always assumed this was not a "court piece" because of the lacquer, making the face of the kogai longer waring and more useful for everyday life.

 

Rich

 

 

[Pete Klein]

Thanks Rich -- nice example.

(I have one similar but I got a little lazy about cleaning the scanner)! LOL

 

BTW -- 'Tosogu no Kigan' by Sasano has a good display of kogai and variations. There were very early ones with the Mimikaki (scoop) reversed and also ones called 'urazashi' design made with the motif angled for mounting on the ura. (If you took one made for the omote and used it on the ura it would look to be upside-down).

[Rich T]

(as best I understand it) and is the rank of importance to the individual pieces of kodogu.

1) menuki -- the omote is higher in rank than the ura.

2) kogai

3) kozuka

4) fuchi/kashira

5) tsuba

6) all other pieces of the soroimono (uniform objects) such as the kurikata, orikane, etc.

 

As an interesting side note, I was discussing this with the good Dr Robson yesterday, and in terms of importance, Pete is correct. But in terms of actual worth, the Kogai is tops. This is true of both now and back then. The simple reason is the amount of metal used. kozuka are hollow, menuki are small but kogai are large and solid metal (shakudo plus whatever precious metals oare on top)

 

Just a little bit of extra info.

 

Rich

[Bungo]

" The simple reason is the amount of metal used. kozuka are hollow, menuki are small but kogai are large and solid metal (shakudo plus whatever precious metals oare on top)

"

 

Then how do you explain away the tsuba being near bottom of the totem pole ?

 

milt the flying ronin

[Rich T]

is as Peter noted, based on the very early Goto, simply, they did not make tsuba, not until the 5th mainline master, so this rule was probably based on all the kodogu other than tsuba. Maybe tsuba were tachishi, or iron or whatever and thus low on the list.

 

I will ask though.

 

Rich