Very Unusual Tsuba

[Ken-Hawaii]

Matsu-kaze has a Shonai tsuba on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-Inlaid-mother-of-pearl-Japanese-18-19th-C-Samurai-Antique-Tsuba-B725-/401078388688?hash=item5d622287d0:g:8JQAAOSwWTRW0E7Z) with the kogai-hitsuana inlaid with mother-of-pearl.  I've never seen one done like this before, & I'm wondering how rare they are?

 

Ken

 

 

 

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Ken

 

I reckon this is the work of an over-ambitious contemporary amateur. It's as rough as a goat's knee imo

 

As for the rarity of MOP plugs, I can't recall having seen any before although I have seen it as inlay on a few pieces, there's an iron tsuba with MOP cherry blossom petals in the MET and of course Murakami Jochiku was noted for his use of MOP.

[obiwanknabbe]

Ford, as i am starting to learn about tsuba, what is it about this that screams modern amateur to you?  is it the seemingly random placement of the leaves? How modern do you mean? 1900's?

 

thanks

 

Kurt k

[Brian]

Ugh. Those leaves are horribly done. Like he cut out a bunch of the inlay pieces and then just stuck them haphazardly around the tsuba.

[Andi B.]

...had it posted some years ago: MOP inlay

[ggil]

Maybe ford was talking about the MOP being amateur, not necessarily commenting on the metal work??? The Tsuba doesn't look that bad to my eyes. Maybe a little overpriced for my tastes (any master work out there for free? Anyone?) but not terrible. The MOP could have been done better though, as you can plainly see the fit is not that great. Maybe this is what Ford is stating???

 

- Grant

[Kevin Adams]

Nope, it's pretty rough. The leaves lack any real attempt at shaping or detail - they appear to be mere triangles inlaid into the ground, an inlay practice exercise at best. The crane is very coarsely executed, the background texture is sloppily applied and all of the structural elements are completely "off". The shape of the tsuba appears to be "top heavy" even when viewed from directly in front - imagine how it would look when viewed from an upward oblique angle, as it would when worn on a sword. I can't imagine this being let out of an Edo-period metalworking studio, at least one that catered to serious paying clients.

 

In this case, the MOP is only a curiosity, not a design element of any major consideration.

[Ford Hallam]

I'll try and offer some observations as to why this piece gives itself away as a modern amateur work.

 

 

The brass tsuba is the questionable one. I've chosen another one from the MFA collection to make some comparisons. I've deliberately chosen a piece that isn't actually all the brilliant, merely generic, but it does exhibit all of the craft characteristics we should expect from professional Edo period work. And I recommend spending time in the MFA on-line collection getting a sense of what real tsuba look and 'feel' like.

 

The first point is the actual design/composition. Unless a tsuba-shi had received some degree of training as a painter they were unlikely to simply make up their own designs. Professional artists were commissioned by publishers to produce designs specifically for the applied arts, like lacquer, metalwork etc. Many of these design books still exist and you can even buy modern reprints of them. Studying these design books and indeed Japanese painting we learn that there are certain conventions that are followed, rules that are rarely broken. Japanese society in the Edo period was remarkably sophisticated in its appreciation of visual culture. Poor design and a weak aesthetic sensibility simply would not pass muster. So, if you weren't properly trained as a painter you relied on professional designers.

 

It's worth noting too that originality of design wasn't always the first priority either. Certainly, novelty was appreciated but in terms of metalwork appreciation it was the technique and expressiveness in the way the metal was carved, shaped and finished that counted first and foremost.

 

Let's consider these two designs then. The MFA version isn't particularly inspiring but it at least doesn't appear too awkward. There's a sense of openness about it and the elements of the crane and the leaves each have sufficient space in which to 'live'. One aspect of design that professionals inevitably keep very much in  mind is the negative spaces a composition creates. These 'negative spaces' are the areas between elements of the composition. Have a look at the arrangement of the leaves (on the MFA example). Now don't look at the leaves but rather the shapes that are defined by them, those little patches of the iron ground. Notice the patterns and rhythm that is formed. I'll remind you that this is not a great example but never the less these open spaces are at least interesting and relate to one another. That relating is what is called its rhythm.  In this case it's a little obvious and predicable but when we compare this arrangement with the brass tsuba we see the leaves there are arranged in a very regular way and lack any sense of liveliness.

 

The legs of the bird even follow the same sort of arrangement, which misses a chance to make the bird stand out or at least contrast against the leaves. The bird is the central motif but appears almost subordinate to the leaves, it lacks emphasis. The bird seems further 'suppressed' by the way it's squeezed into that space. That black leaf tight up against its breast looks very uncomfortable. And that curve of gold (?) coloured metal strip arching out of its tail end makes it look like its having a pee. That's obviously an accident in the design but not one that a professional designer would make.

 

Turning to the actual craft technique now.

The leaves are very poorly cut out, they lack a sense of springiness and flow. The MFA example is a fairly good illustration of what the leaves ought to look like, or at least be trying to look like.

The shaping of the leaves on the brass tsuba is crude and unfinished. We can clearly see facets where the metal was chiselled in some place but in other areas they leaves have obviously been polished more carefully. An 'as chiselled' finish is something I use myself but in this case it's not a deliberate aesthetic decision but merely a poorly finished job. The leaves are 'flat' without any real definition and detail, like a central stem as on the MFA example, they look as though they were done with the very least amount of effort and care.

 

I mentioned conventions earlier, the legs of cranes in Edo period metalwork and paintings tend to be yellow or gold coloured and the scales, claws and textures are well defined. In this case our poor crane appears to be wearing the avian version of black rubber Wellington boots .  Have a look at the MFA version. It's not especially great but the details are understood and neatly defined. It's not very difficult to make those marks if you know what they should look like and what they represent.

 

And then there's the plumage on the two birds. The MFA examples is coherent and complete, and while clearly a very stylised rendering is still 'understood' visually as a reasonably convincing image of the feathers on a crane. The layout on the brass tsuba's bird looks like it was done by a 6 year old.  The head of the crane on the MFA tsuba has a little bit of attitude and character. The Brass tsuba's crane looks like a sausage with a pair of chopsticks sticking out of it.

 

In my opinion the brass tsuba was probably made sometime in the past 30 years and in Japan. The traces of tonoko polishing clay in the kuchi-beni around the nakago ana and the leaves at bottom left is a pretty obvious attempt to make it look older.

 

Anyway, those are just my own observation and opinions, for what they're worth

 

 

 

.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Wow, Ford!  I wasn't expecting to get such a graduate-level explanation of what makes a tsuba suitable for collecting!  Quite an eye-opener!  Many thanks!!  :clap:

 

Ken

 

[Ford Hallam]

Cheers Ken

 

glad you enjoyed that. I woke up far too early this morning so decided to give it a go.

[DGARBUTT]

A billiant lesson from Ford.

[seattle1]

Hell:

 Yes outstanding digression Ford! That seems to open a window to what sort of thoughts go through the mind of a shinsa judge in trying to sort out the appropriate points or grade of paper to award to a particular piece, along with of course many other considerations.

 Arnold F.

[Ford Hallam]

Thanks Gents, glad my musings were of interest