Kevin Adams

Do you have a shot of the other side as well?

Andrew - thank you for the clarification, it's very helpful.

Thank you so much for sharing this - not only is it a wonderful documentary, but it is a nice little glimpse into the apprentice system in Japan. Lots for a student to reflect on. Ford, the ranking system in the award ceremony at the end is a bit unclear. I understand the concept of the "runner up", "honorable mention", and of course the gold and silver awards, but the NBSK also uses "nyusen" and the "Tokusho" award you won this year. How do these all relate to each other?

I'm sorry to have missed this thread until now, there's some gorgeous pieces here! I don't have anything to contribute since my "collecting" budget goes exclusively to books, but I'm glad to see some shinsaku work held in the same esteem as the antiques.

David, this still doesn't answer my original question - why do you think the tsuba posted initially is "impressive"? Is it the technique, the theme, how it papered (if at all), the overall "feel" of the piece (since you have examined it in person)? It must be SOMETHING, why won't you share your first-hand knowledge of it? Is it because I disagreed with your assessment, and attempted to formulate a logical argument based on my own experience to back it up? You say I leveled a personal attack on you - this a serious claim, when exactly did I do this? Are wanting an answer to a question, or pointing out that said question wasn't answered considered "attacks"? I assure you, there is nothing personal happening here - just the desire to learn from someone who seems to know a bit more than me, in an environment that promotes such learning. And finally - it's a little unfair of you claim that MY opinion is subjective, but not put yours out for discussion. Even if some don't like the piece, the original question/topic/tsuba is one worthy of research and discussion, and there's been some great information posted that we can all peruse and learn something from. If you've since learned that the motif isn't that rare on Namban tsuba, PLEASE - share your finding and contribute to the pool of information. I for one would love to see more paintings, tsuba and general historical links that relate to this topic, since it's quite unusual and obviously a niche topic in Japanese history that made its way into the art of the period.

Exactly. WHAT do you find impressive about it? You can't make a patronizing statement like "read my quote more carefully" then not answer the question posed to you. Nobody learns anything that way. The example Peter posted shows more technical virtuosity and is compositionally more interesting than the posted example. While I wouldn't call the Bonhams piece "impressive", I'd say it's far superior. In the interests of staying on topic, the different metals used for the faces on the Bonhams example (which we've all seen artists do before on tsuba depicting multiple Japanese figures) suggests that the artist was not showing specifically African slaves on the work. No reason to think any differently for the posted example. One thing I did find interesting about the paintings that were generously posted is the difference in dress between the traders and the servants/slaves - no headwear on the slaves. Some research is needed to distinguish 15-16th century Portuguese merchant wear versus servant wear, but based on the depictions in the paintings, it's a bit more evidence pointing towards the figures on these tsuba being merchants and not African slaves.

I enjoyed that blog posting Dale, thank you for sharing it!

Out of curiosity, what do you find impressive about this piece? I personally find the execution of it to be a bit crude - the horizontal markings on the ura seppa-dai are a bit strange, the gilding (if it is indeed gilded) seems so thick as to lack refinement, and rendering of the figure is very stiff. I agree with John's assessment of the facial features and coloration. A quick Google search suggests that black African slaves were used as crew members on Portuguese ships trading with Japan, but I wonder if a labourer on a ship would be worthy of depiction on a tsuba. Given Japan's attitude towards the Portuguese "buying" Japanese into slavery for export to Europe, I'm not sure it would be something that would be promoted in their art, especially attempted in a formal, stylized fashion as on this piece. It would certainly be worth a bit of research, but I don't think this piece falls into the category in question.

Nice pieces, Thierry - I particularly like the third one (tsuba 0131).

I agree with your first suggestion - the darker colour of a recognizable shape offers a good tonal and compositional balance to the tsuba, once mounted and the kozuka is in place. The idea of a plug and carving being done later is certainly possible, but IMO unlikely because of the work involved for the relatively minor task of filling an ana. I like that piece, though! The carving has a wonderful textural quality to it.

Very generous of you Barry, thank you. My gut is saying Hayashi, but there's something Akasaka-like about it as well...

It was quite a treat to see in person the last bit of work and patination that went into this piece. The red colour on the fish is particularly striking in hand. Well done, Marcus!

Two weeks left to support this very worthy project.

The gentleman who runs this site has been around for quite some time and is known in the JSA community. He also has a professional association with modern swordsmiths such as Anthony DiCristofano, as Guido pointed out a few posts ago (http://www.namahagesword.com). My opinion is that he manufactures tsuba based on copied designs for a specific market, rather than making utsushi or original designs (as an artist) with the intent to "understand" the masters. The "designs" on his site have been available off-and-on for a number of years, which suggests to me that he repeats works from templates that he's made, based on demand. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, but the fact that his work doesn't seem to be signed makes it difficult for untrained eyes to identify the work for what it is. And, as Brian pointed out, what's to stop an unscrupulous individual from reselling the work as an antique?

While i'm far from knowledgeable about Namban tsuba, the first "out of place" thing I noticed about these was the relatively plain seppa-dai. Most examples that I've seen recently have ornately decorated seppa-dai - I assume to complement the ornate detailing in the plate?

Hi all! I happened across these examples and was hoping to get some thoughts as to an attribution: I'm inclined towards Namban, but maybe they could be Nagasaki or Hizen work? Opinions are sought and encouraged.

Hi Fred! Eventually... So far I've found three different ways these needles are carved...it's an interesting exercise indeed!

You're right Christian, it IS a challenge to compare these styles. What I'm looking for are the different ways certain details were carved by the artist. If you look at the photo "akasaka2.jpg" in the second post, it shows exactly the detail I'm curious about (radiating needles from a carved branch at the base of the clusters). The first photo that Richard posted shows these pine needle clusters carved in a slightly different way (a branch section extending through the needle clusters that is disconnected from the base). Details, details, details. And thank you for posting those photos, Richard! I appreciate it.

YES! The question still stands though, so please post any photos you all are willing to share. I'm now wondering if there were different approaches to representing the needle clusters - Florian's example shows the carved branch at the base, and I'm curious about whether this is a "school" detail, a "quality" detail, or an "individual artist" detail. I'm almost certain I've seen these rendered without the branch carving (i.e. only needles). Thank you so much, Florian!

Greetings all! I'm currently studying Akasaka and Higo tsuba in the style of pine trees in silhouette. The challenge I'm encountering though, is that lighting in the photography of the books I have do not show every little detail. Specifically, I'm looking to examine the kebori detailing in the clusters of pine needles. Hopefully this scan (which is representative of the images I can find) will illustrate what I'm describing: I can make a few guesses based on this, but I'm really hoping that members with extensive libraries might be able to point towards some clearer and brighter photos of these details. Thanks in advance!

Thank you Markus, for publishing work about a fantastic artist. And thank you to the providers of coupon codes for making it just a LITTLE easier to spend money I shouldn't be right now...

I'd also say modern. The design is too simplistic for this motif, the execution is too mechanical and in the second photograph, you can see what looks like solder joints where the mon are joined to the plate...

"Only". "Simples." You're a funny guy. :lol:

That steel fukurin is sexy - until you actually said it was a fukurin, I had thought it was raised and folded over...

Replied, concluded, and appropriate donations transacted! Thanks for looking everyone, and please consider donating to this project. Good luck Paul, I look forward to seeing what will come from this.