Mei and Kao Translation Help...

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Here is a new tsuba added to my collection that has a wonderful mei and a inlaid copper kao which is a work of art in its own right in my opinion. The problem is I can't read it as it is written using either Gyosho or Sosho style and not the standard Kaisho writing style. I know this style of mei was popular during the late Edo Period. The chisel marks around nakago-ana on the omote side only is also very specific adding a so called hidden signature to the tsuba.

 

I was able to talk to Bob Benson about this tsuba and he help me with the right side of signature which I think says "Seijuken". He also made the comment that the signature look authentic and is related to the Tetsugendo school. I didn't get a chance to ask him anymore details as he was getting busy at his table at the Baltimore show this past weekend.

 

Below is a high resolution scan of the mei, kao, and nakago-ana. Comments, questions, and translations are welcome. Thank you for the help.

[Brian]

David,

Search the forum for Seiryuken Eiju

Lots of info.

 

Brian

[Soshin]

Hi Brian,

 

Thank you for the translation. I will do that.

[Baka Gaijin]

Good evening all,

 

If I may share, Seiryuken Eiju may be one of the more "Homaged" makers.

 

I have owned more than a few...

 

Sadly none of them have proved close to the mark.

 

Cheers

[Soshin]

Hi Malcolm,

 

Thanks for the information. I did some searching and came across this thread on NMB as Brian R. (AKA. Birthday Boy) has suggested: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16453&p=144904&hilit=Seiryuken+Eiju#p144904. :lol: I also came across this tsuba on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/380727639266?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 without a kao. Both signatures look very different and not as dynamic or elegant from a Shodo perspective. I have taken one class in Shodo and I think I am at the yellow belt level. I will try to get more opinions of the tsuba at the Tampa show next year. The detail level of the carving in iron is amazing and with such beautiful patina is remarkable. Regardless of the signature it is a nice tsuba. :D

 

P.S. I found this tsuba in a discussion on the old NMB site: http://militaria.co.za/nihontomessageboard/viewtopic.php?t=1303&highlight=eiju. The tsuba that is the last one on the page. The Kao is similar but the mei isn't as well done but that might be a condition issue. My tsuba is in excellent condition I will post about it later in the tosogu forum. The chisel marks are also lacking around the nakago-ana for this example compared to my tsuba.

[Gunome]

Hello,

 

I also came across this tsuba on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/380727639266?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 without a kao.

The Ebay one looks like a cast copy compared to this one for example:

 

 

Another one in a different style:

[Soshin]

Hi Sebastien V.,

 

Thanks for the reply with additional information. One final request could someone provide the kanji for the mei "Seiryuken, Eiju"?

[docliss]

This artist’s work has been dealt with on NMB on several previous threads and, at the risk of repetition, I shall post some comments.

 

Hara lists seven artists using these kanji for EIJU, but the artist to which this mei refers is Okamoto Naofusa (H 06602.0). A student of O. Harukuni and an adopted son of O Naoshige, he was working in Osaka, Kyōto and Edo in the late nineteenth century.

 

There are a large number of tsuba bearing the SEIRYUKEN EIJU mei in soshō with a gold, hira-zōgan seal, all of which reflect the Tetsugendō tradition. But there are variations both in the mei and seals, and a very wide variation in the quality of the work, suggesting a number of artists using these mei. A great deal more work needs to be done on this group of artists, of which David’s is clearly one.

 

John L.

[Nobody]

.............

One final request could someone provide the kanji for the mei "Seiryuken, Eiju"?

成龍軒 榮壽

[docliss]

I hate to disagree with Koichi san, but are not the appropriate kanji for this particular Eiju

栄寿 ?

John L

[Nobody]

Ah, they are same kanji. I wrote them in old style.

[docliss]

Thank you Koichi for that – it explains my earlier confusion, which led to a mistaken concern that my attribution of David’s tsuba might have been wrong.

 

John L.

[Soshin]

Dear John L.,

 

I checked out Haynes Index and H06606.0 is Hamano Naoharu. I think you might have the wrong index reference. I find the difference in the Kao between the gold and copper hira-zōgan so great that it might mean there were two different artists using the name Eiju around the same time period with very different Kao and different Shosō mei styles. When the differences are this great in my opinion it rules out the gimei explanation as there is do intent to deceive with so many clear differences.

[docliss]

David, you are quite correct about my error in transcribing Haytnes' reference number - I have corrected this to H. 06602.0. I am sorry about that.

 

Interestingly, most of the tsuba by this group of artists demonstrate decorative sekigane in the nakago-hitsu, a feature absent in your tsuba.

 

I personally can see no possible reason to even consider a gimei attribution for this tsuba.

 

John L.

[Soshin]

Hi John L.,

 

Thanks for the correction. I will check my copy of Haynes Index. I might be furlough from my federal government job tomorrow. If so I will do some photos of this fine tsuba and post in the tosogu section for all to enjoy.