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2 pieces of copper


Teimei

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Hello,

 

this post is about 2 pairs of fuchi kashira i bought, the first pair i bought 3 years ago and the second pair about 2 weeks ago.

Of course i post them to collect some opinions but also to show how the taste of a collector changes over the time.

 

I think if you buy tosogu it´s all about your own taste, because in the end these are only just some tiny (and expensive) pieces of copper.

 

 

 

1. The first pair is unsigned and from the edo period, it´s made of yamagane (mountain metal) which is "just" unrefind copper. The size is just about right for a Katana or a O-Wakizashi and that´s nearly all i can say about it, nothing too spectacular :D.

 

 

dimensions:

 

Fuchi (mm) 39,00 x 23,00

Kashira (mm) 35,50 x 17,00

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2. A matching set signed Yoshioka Inaba (No) Suke.

 

The yoshioka school is said to be one of the top kinko schools, their quality was comparable to the quality of the goto school. Most of their work was done in shakudo with a lot of inlays of gold and silver.

 

It is from the edo period 18th / 19th century but i tend to say 19th century, composed by a black shakudo ground with a horse motif.

The fuchi has inlays of gold, silver and yamagane (the whole horse on the fuchi was inlaid!).

The shakuda has a kind of roughed up surface, the carvings are excellently executed and i think the condition is nearly minty.

The set came with the original shitodome also mafe of shakudo.

 

The only thing about this set is that the mei looks a bit off to me.

The characters are not as good executed as i would have thought.

 

 

dimensions:

 

Fuchi 38 mm x 21.5 mm x 13 mm

Kashira 36,50 mm x 17,50 mm x 10 mm

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A very similar set with tsuba and possible Hosogawa mon on the fuchi.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10838600 ... n6bvg4nfTw

 

My very first Nihonto. With matching quality pictures. ;)

 

Thanks for posting your example, seems like this theme was really popular (or just easy to produce? :lol:) and i think your shots are way better than mine. Damn crappy camera on my phone! :steamed:

 

 

Regards,

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Hi Florian, Although the ground on the Yoshioki fuchi is Ishime and the same theme as the kashira I feel they are not originally a matching set. Two sperate techniques of manufacture. John

 

Yeah, i had the same feeling but how comes that they still matching so well. Maybe one piece was made to fit the other?

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Thanks for posting your example, seems like this theme was really popular (or just easy to produce? :lol:) ...

 

I think you're probably closer to the mark with your parenthesised comment, as I've seen several sets like this since buying mine.

That Brian has another set, as no doubt do a few others, is further proof of such.

 

I believe I've seen it described as 'rain'.

A 'fitting' description...

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Hi Florian

 

The first set is not yamagane, it's plain copper. :) Yamagane is a much darker chocolate brown to grey black.

 

The 'Yoshioka' set are gimei I'm afraid. The quality is actually very poor. The carving of the horse on the kashira is so bad as to suggest it may actually be the work of an amature. The pose is fairly common, it originates with the Yokoya, but it's very weakly rendered. The copper horse is a little less awkward although the inlaid patches strike me as being a bit random. And if we examine the stream we can see the surface is a bit 'lumpy' due to poor foundation carving. The engraved lines in the stream are also somewhat confused and don't flow evenly.

 

Sorry to be so blunt in my critique but if you are going to spend your hard earned money of tosogu it's important to learn quickly what constitutes good quality.

 

Here are some examples to consider and compare so that you might begin to recognise different levels of quality.

Hamano Kenzui

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Tanaka Kiyotoshi - menuki

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Yokoya Soyo - note the rounded and lyrical modelling of the horses that expresses a sense of playfulness.

post-229-14196896125839_thumb.jpg

 

Yokoya Somin - note the horse's pose

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Yokoya Souju - elder brother of Soyo and pupil of Somin

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And a couple of Goto examples. Goto doesn't always mean the best btw ;) In general the Machibori were far better carvers and sculptors of natural world subjects because they learned to see things afresh while the Goto were completely inward looking on their own tradition. In circumstances like that things tend to lose vitality and originality. Ok, that's my Sunday morning sermon over :lol: hope some of what I've posted helps to form a better idea of various levels of workmanship and artistry.

 

Goto Keijo - kozuka

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Goto Yujo - menuki

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Since it's Yoshioka time … ;)

 

This is a Tsuba from my collection, depicting Tessenka 鉄線花 (clematis), signed Yoshioka Inaba no Suke 吉岡因幡介, 75.2 mm x 69.2 mm x 3.8 mm; this particular Tsuba is unusual in that it is done in Shibuichi Nanako.

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I found this example on the MFA site. I can't say for sure if it's genuine but this is at least the level of workmanship and artistry we'd expect to see in a work by this artist.

 

[attachment=1]sc47465.fpx&obj=iip,1.jpg[/attachment]

 

This is a very good example of a carved and engraved stream, for comparison. It's a different style of carving but it shows well the level of control and subtlety the best work exhibits. Notice how the gentleness of the rippling water contrasts the rocky bank and how the leaves add a further touch of delicacy. The whole scene is composed of so little yet it is so well composed as to suggest so much more.

[attachment=0]Uchikoshi_Hirotoshi_-_Fuchi_with_Running_Man_-_Walters_51913_-_Back.jpg[/attachment]

 

 

Dear Mr. Hallam,

 

thanks for posting all of those great examples of koshirae.

Even to my newbie eyes the mei on the yoshioka pair looked fishy and the workmanship was´nt top notch, but it looked good enough to me :(.

Sometimes its good to learn it the hard way, i even prefer the sledge hammer method to be honest.

But i hope you can see that my taste in koshirae has changed (from worse to bad :D).

Thanks again for your honest opinion!

 

 

Regards,

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You're more than welcome, Florian.

 

And thank you for taking it all so well. Onwards and upwards :beer: 8)

 

We all have to start somewhere and if you need advice on future purchases don't hesitate to ask. I'm always happy to offer what help I can to newcomers to this complicated field.

 

best,

 

Ford

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Ford,

 

I also enjoy your expert comments as eye-opener, and I am as well thankful for any opportunity to learn to distinguish between the quality levels. Being able to compare fine items which I probably will never be able to hold - that is so much different compared to my rookie times in the seventies! This is really a valuable improvement in the learning curve!

 

Thanks, Ford!

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