Saya Covering And The Seam

[Ron STL]

Saya that are covered with cloth brocade or some other wrap-around material will have a "seam" down the back of the saya that, I guess, affixes the covering in place. It is quite interesting to see this technique used on a saya. I recall an NBTHK-American presentation several years ago during a sword show that talked about this technique and touched upon how it was done. I believe it may have been Gordon Robson who spoke about this at that show presentation. On a sword's saya here, the "seam" appears to be a solid strip of black "something." On a sword a friend recently purchased off Ebay shows a seam which (as he described it) has "repeated black dots and dashes" along the seam. The seller's photo sort of show  this if one looks closely. My question is, can anyone explain in some detail how this was done when used on wrapped saya? Maybe there is a paper describing this somewhere or even a video. As with so many aspects of the Japanese sword, I'm amazed how things are done and how they can be so "perfect" when finished. It would be very interesting to learn more about how this seam was made.

Ron STL

[Pete Klein]

^{I wouldn't be surprised if there is a groove cut into the saya into which the material ends are placed with a strip of wood then inserted which holds the material in place.  Just a guess but it would make sense.}  

[BMarkhasin]

Ron,

 

This stitching typically appears on saya that have a leather wrapping underneath the urushi.  You see this with some frequency in old tachi saya - Kawa Tsutsumi no Tachi.  They were essentially battlefield koshirae.  The stitching can occur along the mune or along the side of the saya.  I believe the thread is gut.  There is a term for the stitching that I cant quite remember, but its something like kasanari tsugime (I probably totally pooched that, sorry).  It is essentially a very fine "lapped seam". It takes great skill to keep the profile low, achieve a tight fit, and keep the seam evenly positioned the length of the saya.  As a result there are few in Japan today who can restore this type of saya.  I'm not sure if the same technique is used for brocade, but I suspect so.

 

Best,

Boris

[IanB]

Ron,  Peter has it. I have a tanto with a brocade covered scabbard almost identical to that illustrated. They have cut a channel in the wood, pasted the brocade over the scabbrad and tucked the cut ends into the groove. Exactly what has then been forced into the channel to secure the ends is impossible to tell since it is black lacquered. I also do not know exactly how they achieved the lacquering of the brocade. I tried it myself using a brocade with a gold pattern like my scabbard and gave it a thin coat of seshime urushi thinking the gold would shine through the dark brown lacquer - nope it looked like it was covered with tar when it hardened.

 

I forgot to say that I recently had the privilege of handling a tanto with a leather covered say where they had used silver 'Dutchmen' to join the edges on the back. these were double triangular pieces of silver, joined apex to apex inlet into the leather along the seam. Looked fabulous.

Ian Bottomley

[Tanto54]

Dear Ron,

 

I cannot tell for sure from the pictures (need more detailed pictures or to see it in hand), but I saw a saya like this about 40 years ago that was made from cherry bark veneer bands that were "sewn" together, sanded down and then lacquered over.  It looked almost exactly like the one in your pictures (but I'm not saying that this one is cherry - perhaps another bark or wood veneer).  I've attached a picture of a tea caddie that is made the same way (sorry it's not a more detailed picture - it's the best that I could find on the Internet).  If you look carefully, you can see the same "long/short" stitch pattern that is on the saya going vertically up the side of the tea caddie.  I've also attached a picture of another Japanese box that shows the stitching technique more clearly (and much larger).  When you get it in hand, see if you think it could be this technique.

 

 

[Ron STL]

Thanks guys! I found this all very interesting, for sure. Amazing what those Japanese craftsmen can do. The long-short stitching sure sounds like the pattern my friend said his sword saya has on it's stitching. I believe he told me it was wrapped in cherry bark, like the pictured, George. Maybe a few other examples will show up here before this topic dies. Always interesting to see photos!  Ron STL