Jump to content

Keigyoku Wolf Tsuba, female tosogu artist!

terminus

By terminus
in Tosogu

 Share

Recommended Posts

terminus Community Regular

terminus

Posted
Posted

I recently acquired this tsuba from the SF Token Kai show. I got the chance to see some very impressive tsubas both on the table and under, however I ended up falling in love with this wolf tsuba for it’s subtle elegance, design and quality of work. It’s papered TK and the artist is Kamiyama Keigyoku, who interestingly enough is a female artist from the late Edo period. Thought I would share:
post-3124-0-58998200-1565569931_thumb.jpg
post-3124-0-51769500-1565569973_thumb.jpgpost-3124-0-53556200-1565569983_thumb.jpgpost-3124-0-11257600-1565569992_thumb.jpgpost-3124-0-78937500-1565570002_thumb.jpg
post-3124-0-54112400-1565569737_thumb.jpeg
 

  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites
terminus Community Regular

terminus

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks! Yes, I love seeing the very subtle and “less is more” nature of how the moon + clouds, and the ura side’s waterfall is done.

 

The Shakudo wolf is very interesting to study. I’m not sure if it was by accident or on purpose, but there are these copper colored striations along the wolf’s head, ribs, spine and legs that really accentuate the dimensions of the carving.

 

Yea! I only knew of Jochiku’s daughters as well. It also seems they becomes artists together as sisters lol.

 

Here’s some more work from Keigyoku:

post-3124-0-65145100-1565586260_thumb.jpegpost-3124-0-08268500-1565586270_thumb.jpeg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ford Hallam Grand Master

Ford Hallam

Posted
Posted

Henry, I think the lean wolf motif is a reference to the desolate plains of Musashino, after battle.. Lots of nibbles for hungry wolves. Wild animals are the only creatures that benifit from battle.

 

It looks to me to be a really lovely carving, I'd love to see more. Actually I've been wanting to do this theme myself for some time.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Curran Grand Master

Curran

Posted
Posted

Henry, I think the lean wolf motif is a reference to the desolate plains of Musashino, after battle.. Lots of nibbles for hungry wolves. Wild animals are the only creatures that benifit from battle.

 

 

That is my understanding too,

but I've been wrong before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
paulb Grand Master

paulb

Posted
Posted

that is also my understanding. However how about an alterantive theory? The wolves are always depicted as starving. If they were feasting on after battle remains they would be well fed not emaciated. So what if this was really a positive message? in times of peace there is less for the wolf to scavange hence the starving form.

Realise this flies in the face of accepted intelligence but it is a much more positive and optmisitc way of describing a beautifully crafted image :)

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ford Hallam Grand Master

Ford Hallam

Posted
Posted

Well the wolf was traditionally regarded as a messenger of the Kami in Shinto. It was also said to protect farmers crops, and there are still today many shines dedicated to the wolf, Okami.

 

Paul, I'm pretty sure the lean wolf on a battle field is a haiku. Basho, as one example, was no fan of the military dictatorship so it might have been a form of criticism of the Bakufu , given that many, if not most, of the more artistic tsuba of the Edo period were made by the machibori and for non-samurai clientele. Government mismanagement resulted in frequent rice and grain shortages and famine during the Edo period so hungry wolves would still have been a very potent symbol and critique of that sort of failure. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Henry Wilson Veteran

Henry Wilson

Posted
Posted

One thing I’ve always wondered is every Japanese depiction of a wolf and moon has the wolf looking the other way of the moon. Why is that?

I say it is an aesthetic convention. By looking at the moon it would be fixed in the wolf's locality. This would reduce the implied scale of the composition and its overall artistic depth.

 

Or something like that. Perhaps!!!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one, unless your post is really relevant and adds to the topic..

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...