Baka Gaijin

Morning all, Purely just for fun......... If we try to read the Genji - mon from the Omote side of David's Tsuba: The Genji - mon are formed from five vertical linear bases, so if you count the bottom one it has six, which I suggest means an overlap as in Chapter 11 The top one looks similar to Chapter 4. And further for fun, the names of the Chapters are 4 - Yugao (Evening Face) & 11 - Sakaki (Sacred Tree) However, if we read it from the Ura side, we are into a new set of possibles.....whatever the meaning, it's a fine Tsuba. Cheers

Afternoon all. Here's a direct link to the full Genji - mon. They represent the 54 chapters of the Tale of Genji, however in this context represent a particular fragrance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Genji ... ements.svg Yours looks like a partition of Chapter 44 Genji - mon (Takekawa - Bamboo River) Go to the zoom control and in the centre of the ochre coloured page you will see a shape quite similar to your sukashi http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliver/ ... HUAM199844 Cheers

Good afternoon all. In the last tsuba, could the sukashi be stylised Genji - mon and wisp of smoke be related to the Incense game? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dd%C5%8D Cheers

Good afternoon Piers This may be of interest http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/kyoto.htm Cheers

Morning all, Chris summed it up pretty well. I can add just a little more: Name changing is found in many strata of Japanese society, not just Swordsmiths. A self given or honourific bestowed name other than the parental given birth name is sometimes referred to as Nanori 名乗り. You could think of it like an "Art name" In Western Art name changing or shifting has always been quite popular e.g. The Italian Baroque painter Giovanni Francesco Barbieri is better known as "Il Guercino" (The squinter). Doménikos Theotokópoulos is better known as El Greco. Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol is better known as "Dali". Anyone wandering around SoHo or parts of East Village - New York City between 1970 and 1980 would have seen the Urban Art tag "Samo" which was used by Jean Michel Basquiat and Al Diaz. And of course, William Shakespeare was the name adopted by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford....... :lol: Cheers

Good afternoon Piers, With regard to the mechanism of Teppo. I wonder if the depiction of precise details were considered too dangerous to show to the emerging merchant classes and thus a matter for censorship? Cheers

Morning Piers, That's fascinating, now here's a question. Does the image depict our character preparing to fire, or having fired the gun? I'll nail my colours by saying I think he's fired and he's exhibiting the follow through of concentration (Zanshin). (Hence the wispy smoke dispersing across the hata and the red post, the hair flying, the blossoms falling...) You may shoot me down in flames Pip Pip

Morning all The print above is by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, from the series Taiheiki eiyû den, 太平記英勇傳. It depicts Inoue Daikurô Nagayoshi who Kuniyoshi had to rename Ina-ue Daikurô Masatada. It was originally published by Yamamoto-ya Heikichi between 1848/9. What is particularly interesting are the hints of impermanence shown by the skull hata, falling leaves and blossom, what would be called "Vanitas" in Western Art. Kuniyoshi certainly had sight of a copy of a western manual of Art aesthetics and is known to have painted and drawn in the western idiom. Cheers

Morning Piers, Re your Sadahide print, the rectangular seal lower left looks like a varient of the Izumi-ya Ichibei publishing house, they are recorded through six, possibly seven generations between 1686 and 1886. A lot of the big names worked for them. Here's a useful link to some biographical details: http://www.myjapanesehanga.com/home/art ... -1807-1873 Cheers

Good evening Allan, Working on the works on paper from the top, 1 & 2 are by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, they are left and right part of a tryptych which I cannot identify at the moment. Do you have the center image? The Publisher though was Yamaguchiya Tōbei (Kinkōdō). 3 & 5 are as it says on the label - Kawase Hasui (1883 – 1957) He was influential in the shin hanga (new print) movement, so much so that in 1956, he was made a Living National Treasure. 4 is by Paul Jacoulet (1902–1960) from the series Les Vieux Manuscrits - Coree Seoul Published November 1948 in an edition of 250 (There should be an edition number of 250 on the verso, it will be within a rectangular cartouche). It will be a pencil signature by Jacoulet himself above the Ivy center right recto. It was published by Honda (Matashiro Uchikawa) and carved by Kentaro Maeda. (The subject matter is a scholar sitting and reading while he holds a fan which describes the Diamond mountains of Korea.) 6 may be mounted from a Kakejiku it may be Kusunoki Masahige (The kikusui hata in the background) They are all very good things, your parents had very good taste indeed. Cheers

Morning Roy I can tell you what it was worth on the 18th of September 2002............ http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/prin ... a0fa8482f1 (The World record price for a Sharaku print was in Paris 2009 - $589,000) Cheers

Good morning Rick, The print in it's original form is known as Sanka Hakou 山下白雨, it comes from the series Fugaku Sanjūrokkei 富嶽三十六景 - 36 views of Mt Fuji (There's actually 46 in the series) produced between 1826 and 1833. When collecting or selling prints, condition is everything. It looks as though there are several issues regarding the print's condition. Some of them can be addressed by a qualified paper conservator, but that will be expensive. Any of the three auction house you named will be able to help you with a valuation on this in the current market, and they will tell you whether it meets with their minimum lot charges. Cheers

Morning all, It's an interesting shape reminiscent of the O-wari Daki Myoga Kamon. However, I wonder if this is actually a depiction of a pair of Tebōki (手箒) feather dusters. http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/wow/item/1-825-0200/ This is the closest I can get to an image with a modern "Uchida" duster. Habōki (羽箒) for the Tea ceremony are usually either a single or three feathers - mitsubane (三つ羽), wrapped at the point with a bamboo leaf and tied with thin cord. http://www.omotesenke.jp/english/chanoyu/glossary.html (scroll down to sumitori) Cheers

Morning all Ford said: "It's funny, having worked towards this goal for so long now that it's happened I don't quite know what to do about..." Well...... For starters Cheers

Morning Roy, There was a Morita-ya Hanjirō (aka Honzō) as a Publishing house in Edo, the earliest dating for them is 1818. Hopefully more as I investigate. Cheers

Good morning Piers, I've showed the images of both to an ethnographic dealer friend and his opinion was the infill in both is a gum or resin based pigment. He suggested rosary for the ojime and the Siberian coastline for the antler. Cheers

Morning Roy, I'll have a go, but need to see much more of what is to the left of the misty kanji, bottom third and also right mid section past the circled stamp. Ideally to the actual sheet edges all around if possible. It may be talismanic, an "aka - e" a red print to protect from smallpox. Cheers

Morning Roy, Your print is by my personal favourite of all the woodblock artists, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi), arguably the father of modern manga comics. Your print is of "Danshichi Kurobei murdering the old man in the mud" from Eimei nijūhasshūku (Twenty-eight famous murders with verse). The full spec is: In the large rectangular cartouche: Signed: Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu with the red Kiri seal underneath. Publisher would be Sano-ya Tomigorō (Kinseidō) Block carvers would be Hirokō Shimizu Ryūzō The original printing for this series was 1866/7, but yours looks to be a a slightly later state because it's without the lemon tones to the two lower rectangular cartouches by the main signature cartouche and sage green in the "grassy knoll" area. (Not seeing it up close, It may be light bleaching from sunlight). Here's a link about Danshichi Kurobei: http://www.kabuki21.com/danshichi.php Oh and by the way the publisher of the Chikanobu tryptych was Fukuda Kumajirō. Cheers

Evening Piers, Thanks for the link, Interesting decoration on both items, I'm not sure about the infills being Cloisonné because of the heat issues involved. You say the one is possibly antler and what about the ojime.......bone or ivory? Definitely not ceramic? I've a friend who deals in Cloisonné, I'll let him see the images. Cheers

Good afternoon Roy, Thank you for the photo of the signature, it is very close to the free flowing style he was using from about 1895 with the series "Shiki no hana kyogen mitate", though the elongated base stroke with its deep downward flourish looks similar to the form he was using in 1902 with "Tokyo meisho". Safe to say no earlier than c.1895 Cheers

Morning Piers, A parasol handle makes sense. Have you got a link to the netsuke site? Cheers

Good morning Piers, It's an interesting piece and looks old. I was taught to ask the following block question related to form and function "If it's Netsuke, how would it take the himo strands which would then go through the ojime and into the inro itself; how would it tie and how would it sit when mounted through the obi??" Daily, I see a lot of the modern miniature carvings which are "homage" to netsuke, and although they now have one hole larger than the other, when one asks the question, the answer comes that they invariably would not "sit" correctly if strung for wearing. (eg figural subjects upside down, Kana subjects similar). Have a look at these sales for some amazing Netsuke Ojime Inro combinations. http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20189/ http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19295/ http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19548/ Cheers

Morning all, I'll take a stab at the footer in the box: りきしわた工場製品 Rikishi Wata Koujou Seihin Rikishi Wata Factory Product (I can't make out stroke number of the first two Kanji in the Header, but working on Sencho's shochu translation above, does Sogyo mean something like Founded or Since?) Cheers

Evening all, りきしわた shows up in a variety of locations, so I guess it's still available. http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&gs_nf=1& ... 22&bih=721 Cheers

Good morning Roy, This link should explain your questions: http://viewingjapaneseprints.net/texts/ ... print.html Also could you photograph the signature, which may be on the lower right side of the sheet and I will be able to date the print more accurately for you. Chikanobu (Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延) (1838–1912), also known as Yōshū Chikanobu (楊洲周延) is quite an interesting character, he was a retainer of the Sakakibara clan of Takada domain in Echigo province. Following the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate, he joined the Shōgitai and fought in the Battle of Ueno. He later fought in the Battle of Hakodate. Following the Shōgitai’s surrender, he was remanded to the authorities in the Takada domain. He went to the newly named Tokyo in 1875, Cheers