Jump to content

A series of fittings ( or how not to build a collection )


Bob M.

Recommended Posts

That is a great kozuka Bob . I had a look at it in the Milward and Monzino catalogues and whilst the Milward cat described it as a masterpiece you would hardly go out of your way to buy it based on the catalogue photos . In your photo though it is really something else . Thanks for posting all of your pieces.

Ian Brooks

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

coming late to the party and ill qualified to comment other than to say that I have had the opportunity to study this work in hand on a number of occasions and it is without doubt one of the finest ( and without doubt my favourite) Kozuka I have seen. Not only is the workmanship stunning but it has that other great attribute so hard to achieve, it makes the observer smile, or at least it does this one.

Thank you for sharing Bob. The only fault I can find with this piece is that it is in your collection and not mine!!!!

  • Like 4
  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ref. Item No.  315

 

Many thanks to everyone for their comments and contributions on this - most illuminating.

 

I wonder if it would be possible to see copies of the relevant entries in the Milward and Monzino catalogues regarding this piece?

 

Until Ian Brooks kindly mentioned them, I had not thought about catalogues for these collections being extant. It would be great to have copies to add a bit of background documentation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Bob.

 

The Monzino collection catalogue lists this as, "An Edo shibuichi kozuka.  Attributed to Kono Haruaki (1787 - 1860)

Finely engraved with a fox dancing among reeds on a river bank, looking at the reflection of a woman in the water, details in two colour gold takazogan.  Signed Haruaki Hogen with kao.

Ex G H Naunton Collection, no. 2181

illus. pl. LXVI

Ex Clement Milward collection."  Sold for a hammer price of £747 against an estimate of £500-600.

 

The Naunton describes it thus, "K., shibuichi, intaglio relievato and slight relief inlay, a fox, changing into a woman mirrors itself in a river; very fine work, the few reeds and suzuki grass chased and inlaid gold.

Signed:  Shummei Hogen, with flat kakihan."

 

I don't think I have the Milward collection catalogue.

 

All the best.

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is the picture from the Carlo Monzino collection catalog:

 

haruaki.thumb.jpeg.48c06fdf87798618ddf7485831bf28fb.jpeg

19 hours ago, Geraint said:

 

The Monzino collection catalogue lists this as, "An Edo shibuichi kozuka.  Attributed to Kono Haruaki (1787 - 1860)

Finely engraved with a fox dancing among reeds on a river bank, looking at the reflection of a woman in the water, details in two colour gold takazogan.  Signed Haruaki Hogen with kao.

Ex G H Naunton Collection, no. 2181

illus. pl. LXVI

Ex Clement Milward collection."  Sold for a hammer price of £747 against an estimate of £500-600.

the description has already been provided by @Geraint.

 

The picture from the catalog does not make justice of this stunning piece...

 

How many pieces we let go due to poor catalog or seller pictures?

Just wondering...

 

A question for @Bob M., has this piece been restored or repatineted? The colors are completely different  between your pictures and the catalog. 

 

Regards 

Luca 

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ref. Item No. 315

 

Hi Luca,

 

You ask about repatination or restoration ; the piece just received a light clean by Ford Hallam after I had bought it.

 

The colour varies I think, according to lighting conditions. The 'browner' shades were probably generated by photographing under incandescent bulbs whereas the more silver grey version ( my pictures ) used either natural light or cold white . This enables more detail to be shown as a higher level of light can be used which ' cuts through ' the darkening effect of a close up lens.

 

The natural colour of the shibuichi used in the body of the kozuka is influenced by the silver content. This in turn means that the wide variation between the different shades does not show a right or wrong colour but merely one that reflects ( literally ) the light falling on the piece. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Bob has described, the lighting conditions can greatly effect the colour rendition, as can the printing. The catalogue image is apparently on a white background yet what we see is far from 'white'.

 

The only real change is the removal of the solid grey silver sulphide layer on the reflected silver face in the stream.

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Bob, attached are the entries from the Milward Catalogue . The Clement Milward collection was sold by Sothebys in two parts . The first part was on the 27th of june 1967 and the second on the 11th June 1968 . There were 69 swords and 361 fittings lots . The latter is somewhat misleading as many of the lots had multiple items in them . For example lot 420 contained 14 sets of fuchi kashira . Mr Milward had some really fine pieces in his collection . Many of the pieces list their provenance ie ex Peak , Bradshaw Joly and Naunton collections . This is something that I like  about many of your pieces where you have also set out their provenance.

DSCF5934.JPG

DSCF5935.JPG

DSCF5937.JPG

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear NMB members,

 

Time to drop a curtain on this thread at least for the time being - over two and a half years is quite a long time and more than 300 fittings being posted was in excess of my expectations when we started out. The number of views and replies have been most encouraging and I hope that there was something for everyone.

 

A big Thank You to all viewers and to those who have taken the time to contribute.

 

I am still active in the market and hope that in 6 - 12 months' time I will have a few more bits & pieces to post as an addendum.

 

My thanks to Brian for putting up with me and helping out with board related queries.

 

Many thanks are due to George Miller for his commentary and research both on and off the NMB - the postings would have been much the poorer without his input.

 

I must also mention that without the friendship and advice of Ford Hallam over many years, the collection would not be anything like the quality that it is today - Thank you, Ford.

 

We are researching as to whether the two parts of the thread can be merged and pinned, hopefully as a reference source ( or perhaps a dire warning ) for fittings collectors and enthusiasts.

 

With Best Regards

Bob Morrison

  • Like 4
  • Love 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you Bob for providing this wonderful thread. I look forward to seeing your new acquisitions. This thread needs to be pinned as it is a wonderful resource. George and Ford have made great contributions to the thread.  The pieces that you have shared with us set a high level for collectors to reach for.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Hi Ian,

 

Thanks for your posting - I have never heard of this collector before.

 

It is interesting - I purchased the tsuba at auction about 12 years ago and it had obviously had a light clean after appearing in the Fahrenhorst catalogue and prior to my acquisition. The collection that I bought from was  Szechenyi Japanese Art.

 

The tsuba was still very dirty and a lot of detail was obscured and so I got Ford Hallam to give it some TLC, with the spectacular results seen on the thread.

 

What was the year of publication of the Fahrenhorst book ?

 

Again it would be interesting to try and establish a timeline for the piece.

 

Best Regards

Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...
×
×
  • Create New...