Gnarly iron tsuba....what is it?

[kaigunair]

:lol: I thought this thread had gone cold....and then to see that Ford picked up the tsuba!

 

I do appreciate the wabi sabi / boro boro discussion. Very interesting indeed!

 

Ford, you crack me up :D . I sometimes wonder how much of what you post is just to see if you can sway opinion on the forum on the opposite direction! (BTW, you are often times very convincing - with great power comes great responsibility ). In the case of this little tsuba, I'm glad it found a place in your collection. I will say for now that I went a different way on another certain piece which you had voiced much reserve against; your comments had been really gnawing at me, but I do feel ever so *slightly* better about the decision. Am putting together a little post which is why I'm alittle hush hush right now...

 

Curran, I came accross some hazama pieces in an older auction catalogue (lundgren collection I think), and was shocked to see what they were going for. I must admit, those too seem to be an acquired taste, but maybe more along the lines of wabi-sabi for me. I recently saw a hazama piece with a botan flower theme that did really appeal to me, but it was already sold. I had previously thought the holes/loss in the inlay had been intentional/integral to all hazama tsuba until seeing the botan example.

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Junichi

 

well of course I have to occasionally swim against the current. If a carp wants to become a dragon it must not only swim against the flow of the river but at it's source leap up the waterfall :D But I've never been one to simply go along with consensus and challenging popular opinion often forces a re-examination of perhaps previously unconsidered ideas. My view is that it's not always important to be right but it is important to examine how and why we think as we do.

 

I'm intrigued about the piece I apparently voiced concern over....I wait with baited breathe.

 

As for this botan sahari inlay tsuba I get the impression it's a relatively modern piece, and the mei is familiar... The appearance of corrosion or loss of the inlay on antique pieces is in fact deliberate. The alloy is ground up to a fine powder (it breaks up quite readily actually) and packed into pre-cut recess. Then is then fired in the same way one would melt champleve enamel. The surface is ground level after it's cooled. The reason for the appearance of those characteristic 'corroded' areas is simply that as the powder melts it incompletely fills the recess because the loose powder is not consolidated and takes up less space. If a perfectly filled inlay was desired one would simply re-apply another layer of the sahari powder and re-fire, just as with enamel work. If you examine the botan you'll see areas within the sahari where the inlay is lower than the level of the plate, and the low areas are inevitably away from the edges as one would expect.

[kaigunair]

...it'll be alittle bit longer before I post the thread, as I'm writing my dissertation...er...response offline first to make sure I have my facts in order. Plus I have so many books to go through to make it look like I know what I'm talking about and not just ...

 

Thanks for the explanation about the hazama technique. It reminds me of the pre-namikawa/ando style of cloisonne work done on plates and vases with the unfilled holes, the stuff I believe Japan was usually exporting...a bit unrefined. I guess it also reminds me of the chinese knockoff cloisone vases I see in junk/novelty shops in the bay area. True Hirata enamel work is quite beautiful to me and of the enameling level of namikawa/ando, even if it isn't wireless.

 

Is there some historical context or backstory to hazama work that adds to its appeal? Or is it trying to mimic another famous art style, similar to how somin's katakiribori mimic'd a particular type of brush stroke and painter?

[Ted Tenold]

I'm intrigued about the piece I apparently voiced concern over....I wait with baited breathe.

[Soshin]

True Hirata enamel work is quite beautiful to me and of the enameling level of namikawa/ando, even if it isn't wireless.

 

Is there some historical context or backstory to hazama work that adds to its appeal? Or is it trying to mimic another famous art style, similar to how somin's katakiribori mimic'd a particular type of brush stroke and painter?

 

Hi Junichi-san,

 

Here is some good examples of the Hirata school fittings with enamel work: http://www.silk-road.us/hirata.html. I once in a while have a reread and another look at the examples as they are really nice. The Hazama or Kunitomo Teiei I am not a fan of but I do respect other peoples tastes and interests in that type of work. In the same way I and a fair number of Japanese collectors, other readers of NMB that have contacted me like Kamiyoshi Higo work while other people on the forum don't.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[kaigunair]

Thanks David. Those are quite the masterpieces ...too bad they aren't for sale!

 

Will keep up my search and studies into info on hazama....I think I recall they were made in a remote place so I wonder if this is part of the allure...

[Curran]

Hazama and Kunitomo tsuba: boy what a difficult topic.

 

Here is a posted article: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Hazama_Tsuba.html

Yet even in this article there is a fair bit of what I consider mis-information. It doesn't pop up on a google search, but sahari inlay was going back at least as far as koryo celadon inlay.

 

Sahari inlay isn't universally the same. I've owned two Hazama and 1 Kunitomoto Teiei. All NBTHK papered.

Hazama sahari was of one sort rather visibly different from the Kunitomo Teiei. That of Teiei is more perfect, yet much darker.

 

Different books say different things. Ultimately they are considered very desirable, but it is another in the eye of the beholder.

The Kunitomo Teiei is a near perfect condition one with Tokubetsu Hozon papers and a decent hakogaki from big name. It is one of only a few I'd consider submitting for Juyo- yet it much more to the Japanese taste than mine. I prefer the Hazama with its flaws.

 

The one you linked is a modern copy, and sort of screams it to me. It isn't just the inlay, but also the surface finish of the better Hazama that makes them distinct. That modern Nagatsugu signed one certainly lacks the surface finish.

[Ford Hallam]

This is one of my favourite Hazama tsuba.

 

And Curran

 

If you enjoy Hirst's preserved shark you may find this amusing,

 

Any originality Hirst may claim is belied by the facts though, as an artist he's a huge fake.

 

however you might not appreciate Julian Spalding's opinion of Hirst and the rest of the Con-artists.

[Curran]

Ford,

 

Its more that I just enjoy that one work. Don't think much of his other work. Have done enough scuba diving where you go from the 2-D world on land to where suddenly 3-D is much more fluid and sometimes you find yourself looking up or down on something fearsome- and you can't respond as you would on land. Altered reality, yadda aydda, you get the idea I am sure.

 

Stuckism- boy haven't thought on that one much in the last decade. Do remember trying to buy one or two of that guy Absolon's (sp?) stuff in wealthier days.

 

Enjoyed most of the Spalding presentation. True to his trick, I preferred the sheep in the box to be Dolly the first cloned one. Much more interesting to me, just as would the tsuba that started this thread- if it had some historical significance that we could evidence and learn from. As is, it is basically what you said- very studiable forensically. It went through a whole lot of something, but is lacking certain signs of abuse I'd expect to go with everything else that has happened to it.

 

Back to the silver mines...

[bmlusk1911]

Maybe it came off one of these swords?

 

Think a polish would take this out?

[Ford Hallam]

It takes a certain maturity of mind to accept that nature works as steadily in rust as in rose petals. (Esther Warner Dendel)