Jump to content

sabiji

Members
  • Posts

    220
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by sabiji

  1. On 3/23/2024 at 2:48 AM, MauroP said:

    Well, Thomas, actually I see a problem if at the best of knowledge the top experts give inconsistent or variable attributions. The point is simply nobody knows for sure, the attributions are no more than educated opinions. Present day believes, though different, are not better founded than those experts in the field erpressed one hundred years ago. The whole thing looks to me more like religion than chemistry. It's not science. Nontheless it's an amusing activity try to tune with this kind of exoterics...

    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. 

     

    • Like 2
  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. 

     

    • Like 2
  3. 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. 

    • Thanks 1
  4. 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!

  5. 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.

    • Thanks 1
  6. 45 minutes ago, Bryce said:

     

    G'day Thomas,

    You have lost me. Can you please explain this a bit more?

    Cheers,

    Bryce

    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.

    22037-2.jpg

  7. 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.

    • Thanks 1
  8. 18 hours ago, Baba Yaga said:

    The Japanese markets in general is way-way down, thus the sword market. If buyers want to pay top dollar for a sword that's their problem. 

    If a seller wants to hold onto swords which hasn't appreciated for the last 20 years, that's their problem. 

    I see opportunity and not problems.  

    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.

    • Like 2
  9. 7 hours ago, David Flynn said:

    I've checked the prices on the Samurai Museums site, and I believe they are Way over priced.   I would suggest one should compare their prices, with Aoe Art, who may not have the same but would have something comparable.

    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.

    • Like 4
  10. 8 hours ago, History_Geek said:


    I don’t know about the school and that is where I have to do more research on. If you guys have any books or sites where I can study on the different schools, I’d appreciate it. 

    The Ukai school goes back to the brothers Kunitomo and Kuniyoshi.
    Both of them, apparently also in Kyoto, forged swords for Emperor Go-Daigo and received from him the kanji "Un" (Sino-Japanese reading for cloud). 
    From then on, the blacksmiths of this school used this kanji in their names (Unji, Unjo, Unju etc.). Unjo, for example, means "living in the clouds" which is a synonym for the imperial court.


    Ukai itself is a place in Bizen, but Kunitomo and Kuniyoshi adopt the Yamashiro style and bring it to Bizen, influencing Osafune forge as well.


    Unji is considered the best ukai smith, and the sugata of his swords often matches the elegant sugata of Yamashiro blades of the early Kamakura period, which became popular again in the late Kamakura period.
    A trademark of early Ukai blades is a stained-appearing utsuri, which looks as if someone has grabbed the blade with fingers.

     

    Go-Daigo slowly began to set the course to overthrow the Hojo and Kamakura Bakufu beginning in the 1320s. During these years, a conspicuous migration of swordsmiths to provinces from which Go-Daigo hoped to gain support begins.

     

    After the Kemmu restoration of Go-Daigo is eliminated by Ashikaga Takauji himself and the country splits into supporters for Go-Daigo or for Ashikaga Takauji (Nanbokucho conflict), the Ukai smiths continue to make swords for the Go-Daigo faction.


    This juyo dates exactly from the time of the Nanbokucho conflict and shows the typical shaping of Nanbokucho blades. Unju is an Ukai smith from the late phase of this school starting around 1350, so he is not necessarily comparable in value to smiths like Unjo or Unji from the founding phase of the school in the late Kamakura period. This may be something to consider...

    • Like 5
  11. Looks like a tsuba from Ms. Tsukada-san. Very nice piece, I have been watching for a long time.

    I'm also expecting a tsuba from her that I just couldn't say no to recently....;-)

    • Like 4
  12. My quick opinion:
    I am always very careful with the age estimation. Really old yumi are very rare. There are many "old looking bows" because they are built that way for certain ceremonies, festivals, but also for kyujutsu even into modern times.
    The one short, almost symmetrical bow is a hankyu, a "half bow". It was used at that time in confined spaces such as buildings.
    The largest yumi is still relatively short, even by Japanese standards, at 74", but it is not necessarily unusual. 
    Bow number 3 is not Japanese. I think it is a Mandchurian bow. It's too big for a Korean for me. The bow unfortunately lacks the "benches for the bowstring", which catch the string after release.
    The quiver is certainly late Edo in its essential parts.
    The arrows are early 20th century. Traditionally eagle feathers are used, which unfortunately do not last long. Old arrows with well-preserved feathers were usually "restored" with new feathers at some point.  
    Some of the arrows have the typical nocks and the sand tips for shooting at an azuchi, where the mato (target) is attached to a sand hill (azuchi) at a distance of 28 meters.
    The other arrows with the cone tips and the wider and forked nocks are used for quick nocking in Heki ryu Kyujutsu -> https://lightinthecl...ryu-kyujutsu-part-2/

    • Like 1
    • Love 2
  13. Thomas, thank you very much!

    Yes, I was at the Kaji-Machi in Awata. In the Muko-Jinja (Myojin) I was not, that was too far for me and has not given the time. But above all: there is nothing - at least I have found nothing - that connects this shrine with the Rai school. Not even the shrine itself points to it. This surprises me, because there is usually some sign or stone with inscription. 
    Well, Yawata is also considered a swordsmithing site, and Muko would be closer to Yawata than to Kyoto itself.

  14. As part of a lecture, can anyone point me to the local sites of the Gojo, Ayanokoji and Rai schools?
    All the notes I know from sword readings turn out to be unverifiable. Although there are small signs or monuments for everything in Kyoto, or temples or shrines often had connections to local swordsmiths - even on site I could not find anything in the area of the Gojo, Ayanokoji or Aburanokoji streets.

    The only proven forging sites I could find are Awata in the Higashiyama region (Sanjo, Awataguchi) and Yawata between Kyoto and Osaka.

  15. Hi Nathan, welcome here!
    Well, there are quite a few Osafune Sukemitsu, more important, and less important. 
    For me, it would be important to check the style of your blade to see if it matches the typical Sukemitsu way of working. 

    But if the signature is shoshin I'm afraid it will be more likely a blade made on a large scale during that period, with no way to attribute it to a specific Sukemitsu.

    If you do a little research, you will find that in the Osafune forge, a large part of the blades were made in the second or eighth month. The Japanese were very superstitious and blades made in these months tended to have a positive bias. It doesn't matter so much when exactly it was made. One could see it as a sales promotion measure.
     

  16. Hi Florian,
    enclosed my Kyo Sukashi.

    I too have heard the myth that geese were the bearers of good news. And that one also wishes to the (poor) geese attached, or tied to feathers. I have read that somewhere, but can not prove it.

    Musubi 2.jpg

    • Like 2
    • Love 1
    • Thanks 1
×
×
  • Create New...