rematron

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Ah, Damnit. Thanks, Brian. Once again, I’m mixing up my terminology and showing my green skin but that’s fitting since I’m indeed green. So, for the record, in the above quote, I meant sekigane (not fukurin). I’m gonna go sit in the corner with my dunce cap on for a while. Haha.

Yeah. Hahaha. He’s got a foot but no hands or head. He’s gonna have a hard time getting around like that. Is “fukurin” also the name of the soft metal cover on the mini as well as the inserts in the nakago-ana?

Well, that was me but thank you.

A few months ago this tsuba sparked my imagination and I won it in auction after a little battle. The fine detail of the carving greatly appeals to me. I can stare at it and feel like I am there sitting in the teahouse, or floating on the lake in a little boat and playing a game of GO, or treading across the river trying to keep my balance as the water rushes around my legs, or trekking up the mountain past the waterfall, to the temple in the distance, or relaxing under the full canopy of a tree with my back up against its trunk, or following the path leading me to the dark entrance of a great cavern. I’ve been trying to discover what the theme of this tsuba is. At first I thought it was depicting Mount Penglai (Mount Horai in Japanese mythos), but after searching a while in NMB I came across this thread: “Fishing in Springtime Kofu Tsuba” (link is below) which led me to researching ‘Dewa Sanzan’ and ‘The Three Mountains of Dewa’. I believe this is probably what the tsuba is depicting but I would like to hear any other theories or confirmation. The biggest clue pointing to Dewa Sanza turned out to be the cave depicted on the ura side of the tusba. I found this reference when reading about Mount Gassan Shrine and believe it may be what the cave represents. (screenshot of history text below and link to website) Might it be the “cave of Yaotome no Ura” and “The landing place of Prince Hachiko, the founder of the three mountains of Dewa”? One of the details I am most impressed with (and charmed by) on this tsuba is the game of GO being played on the boat. The artist actually managed to carve a grid on the tiny board. I used to love to play GO. Someday I’ll find some more people to play with. One question (among many) that I have is, what is this armature sticking up from the mountain side? (circled in red) It kind of looks like a tori that is missing one of its legs. However, that doesn’t make any sense being that the carving is almost definitely deliberate. Can anyone shine a light on what it is? Another thing I’m wondering is if anyone has seen a painting or print with this scene. I’ve seen a number of tsuba depicting a similar setting and am curious if the artists are drawing from some other specific work. Thanks for reading. Mei: Choshu Hagi-ju Tomohisa Saku 8.4 x 7.9 x .0.4cm This is the link to the website. You can choose to translate to English and then go to ‘History’ to find the text I took a screenshot of. http://www.dewasanzan.jp/smarts/index/6/

Looks great, Stephen! Congrats!

Off topic, but I really like that habaki!

Hi Vitaly. I am a novice. This does not look cast to me. I wouldn't expect the sukashi to be quite as thin/fine on a cast specimen even though the carved details are a bit simple and unrefined. And, along with you, I find the addition of fukurin (although I believe these are copper) to be good evidence of a quality piece. I could absolutely be wrong. The iron underneath the mimi on the kogai hitsu-ana side does look a little suspect, but that could easily be a forging flaw. The nakago-ana looks crisp. Though, there is sort of a 'muddy' aspect overall. That said, this is a piece I personally would shy away from because of there being any doubt. I'm very curious to see what others more knowledgeable than me say.

It looks like there might be ito wrap underneath the string wrap. I like the fuchi. In my novice view it appears to be Edo era tosogu. Edit: I wrote "ito" but I was thinking "same".

How many errors can we find? This is fun!

This reminds me of the 'Tanuki Menuki' thread 6 months ago. These ko-kinko creature depictions seem to be less defined by their appearance and more so by their context. A lot of them seem to have a similar head and ear shape regardless of what the animal is actually supposed to be. In the case of these menuki (misidentified as tanuki by the seller)@Bugyotsuji identified them as kitsune because of the objects in their mouths and the symbol on their tails.

@SteveM beat me to it! Thanks for the links, Steve. Good reads and make for a much better understanding of this theme.

Thank you, Jussi. That's more than I knew before. I hadn't sat down and tried to translate the origami yet. With the help of your findings, I also did a search and found a kabuto with a similar theme. My tsuba is highly reflective and perhaps that is on purpose with the theme of moonlight on the water. Helmet in the Shape of a Crouching Rabbit | Japanese | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org)

Is it just me or does the habaki look off, like maybe it wasn't originally made for this blade?

Is it that the tip of the tail should be black? That seems to be a characteristic of mature tigers.

@Jussi Ekholm I did indeed get it off of yahoo auction and it does have NBTHK origami. I’m certainly interested in any extra insight.

Piers, thank you for the alternative theory! I just assumed it was ‘Inaba no Shirousagi’. And the concept of rusu-moyo is something I hadn’t considered. I should look at Japanese art more conscious of that technique. And thank you, Barry for that link. It’s a good explanation of the concept. Good stuff! I’d like to see a photo of your tsuba if you can find it. Once again I find myself wondering what was in the mind of the artist.

Because of the context, I believe that my ko-kinko tsuba is depicting a rabbit but when I look at it, I see a cross between a rabbit and a wolf cub howling at the moon.

Yoda says: “Gremlin, it is. Feed it after midnight, do not.”

Thank you for spending time on that, Piers. I really appreciate it.

I forgot to ask about this writing on the box in the thread. The first characters look the same as the mei on the tsuba so I guess: Nobuie. Could someone please verify that and tell me what the whole label says? Also, the seller mentioned the name: Shinya Azuchi. Does that mean anything to anybody? Maybe a student of Nobuie? Or a known ‘tribute’ maker? Thank you, people.

Interesting find, Dale. Is it a possibility that this was originally forged like this on purpose? Perhaps there was some sort of soft metal decoration placed there originally and it was damaged and fell off? Or perhaps there was some sort of implement attached there? Intriguing.

Congrats, Stephen!

I like that one, Dale! Mine was $45 and the shipping was $40. I suppose it could have been a little more expensive if it had been in the condition I brought it to.

I'm sorry. How am I clearly being dismissive? I'm stating my opinion and it may not be up to scholarly standards, but I do think it is valid. I'm definitely not being aggressive and don't feel like I deserve an aggressive response. Just explaining how I see it like people do...