vajo Posted June 25, 2018 Report Posted June 25, 2018 Maybe a stupid question but is there some shark tosogu or tsuba with shark themes out there? I've never seen some. Quote
Tanto54 Posted June 25, 2018 Report Posted June 25, 2018 Dear Chris, In 45 years of looking at lots of tosogu, I've only seen two with sharks that I remember. One was a large set of Menuki (about 5 inches long) and the other was on a marine themed tanto. In general, sharks do not have a good reputation in early Japanese art - could be from inabano shiro usagi story or other early Japanese myths (where the shark mistreated other animals). I have seen about 40-50 tosogu with whales (fairly rare and could be confused with a shark). As you may know, shark skin is occasionally used for saya (lacquered and sanded down showing as tiny triangles) and very rarely used as "same" under the tsuka-maki or ito wrap (instead of rayskin). Regards, George 1 Quote
Ray Singer Posted June 25, 2018 Report Posted June 25, 2018 A catshark I believe. Photo credit to Wataru Hara. 2 3 Quote
TETSUGENDO Posted June 25, 2018 Report Posted June 25, 2018 Chris, It's a rare motif, I have only encountered a few pieces, all of them of later manufacture. Two or three tanto, one wakizashi, and a small tsuba....they were all what I would call Meiji confections. I have also seen a couple of instances of small sharks teeth used instead of same on the tsuka. Cheers, p.s.- the blue (enamel ?) eyes on on that Catshark are striking! Quote
ROKUJURO Posted June 26, 2018 Report Posted June 26, 2018 Ray,I don't think that is a shark motive. The head and the fins are not shark-like.. Quote
Ray Singer Posted June 26, 2018 Report Posted June 26, 2018 I believe this is what we are looking at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catshark Quote
Vermithrax16 Posted June 26, 2018 Report Posted June 26, 2018 Catsharks are a small shark family, and I think this is a spotted catshark in the piece Ray posted. Ah, Ray already updated. Quote
vajo Posted June 26, 2018 Author Report Posted June 26, 2018 Thanks Ray. Wow thats a nice one. The eyes looks very living. Its a cat shark no doubt. George, thanks for your thoughts. I have only see a kozuka with wale and some tsuba with wale flukes Quote
Franco Posted March 10, 2022 Report Posted March 10, 2022 Wonderful, Ray and Chris, thanks for sharing. Quote
Spartancrest Posted March 10, 2022 Report Posted March 10, 2022 Chris - you should have waited a bit till after the auction - now everyone will be after it! I have a saying "keep it quiet keep it cheap!" It is a remarkable piece and I am sure others have noticed it - I have put it in my 'Watch someone else buy it list' 3 1 Quote
vajo Posted March 11, 2022 Author Report Posted March 11, 2022 Another fantastic piece. On ebay. 2 Quote
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