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Fuchi Kashira I.d. Help Needed


Oldman

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I'm hoping someone will be able to help me identify the theme/subject matter of the fuchi kashira on a wakizashi I recently acquired. To my inexperienced eyes it looks like a bird theme, with a flying bird and also a feather, and some sort of plants (bamboo? rice?) in the background.  Any more informed opinion on the theme, any idea of age or school, etc. will be greatly appreciated.  Cheers, Michaelpost-3430-0-93941600-1472626460_thumb.jpgpost-3430-0-43626200-1472626473_thumb.jpgpost-3430-0-01411900-1472626482_thumb.jpgpost-3430-0-84012100-1472626495_thumb.jpg

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Hello Michael, and welcome to the forum.

 

It looks like a bamboo grove and some sparrows (?, I'm no ornithologists but then again neither was the maker of these ;-) ) and a hut.

 

Having said that they look very much like modern amateur work as the actual design/composition seems to me to be completely uninformed with regard to genuine Japanese artistic genres. The carving and finishing technique also looks fairly unrefined and naive.  Add to that what looks like amateur re-wrap of the actual handle, the wrap is wider than the fuchi for starters and that first cross-over is pretty ropey, and I think we're looking at a well meaning attempt to restore or complete and older koshirae.

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Hello Ford, and thanks for your thoughts on this.  I bought the wakizashi from a well-known dealer and restorer of nihonto, who described the koshirae as "inspired" and of the Edo era.  The wrap appears fairly aged and the same as well.  That having been said, it was a lower end piece pricewise and is mumei and out of polish, although healthy and with a decent older polish allowing some features of the forging to be seen.  I haven't seen any similar fuchi kashira, although I haven't been searching for very long.  I appreciate your interest and expertise.  Cheers, Michael

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Dear Michael,

 

I cannot identify the theme for certain, but here are a few potential leads that you may want to consider investigating.  The folktale Shita-Kiri Suzume or Tongue-Cut Sparrow mentions the happiness that a bamboo cutter experiences when he comes home each day and greets his pet sparrow at the garden gate of his house.

 

"In the evening the old man came home. As usual, on the way back he looked forward to the time when he should reach his gate and see his pet come flying and chirping to meet him, ruffling out her feathers to show her joy, and at last coming to rest on his shoulder. But tonight the old man was very disappointed, for not even the shadow of his dear sparrow was to be seen."

 

 

I believe that the shingled roof that we see on your Fuchi is the roof of a garden gate instead of the roof of a house - see how long and skinny it is?  Also it has no walls - just a side pillar like a gate.  Later in the tale, the sparrow flies away to his home in the bamboo forest (perhaps seen on your kashira).  Alternatively, many Basho and Issa Haiku mention sparrows, bamboo and garden gates, so yours could refer to one of their more famous poems.  Finally, it could simply be the common meanings for sparrow and bamboo in Japanese art (sparrow = happiness and bamboo = resilience).  Let us know if you figure it out....

 

 

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