Tsuba Oshigata translation help requested - inkbrush script

[GRC]

Hi, this is an oshigata of the tsuba that is in my profile image.

 

This is the info surrounding the tsuba's oshigata:

 

These two images are the covers on the collection of oshigata rubbings:

 

And this is the "section title" that the tsuba is contained within:

 

Thanks 

[John C]

No translation here, just wondering if the writing is new? It looks like it was done on top of the staining.

John C.

[GRC]

That's an interesting observation John.

Unfortunately, I just have images of the oshigata so I can't say one way or the other... sorry 

[ROKUJURO]

Glen,

if I am not wrong it says OWARI.

[Winchester]

Just a guess, is the subject 'waves'? 

 

I suppose I could also be seeing things...

[GRC]

Thanks Jean,

The owner of the oshigata thought "Owari" was in there too, so I had already put that in the name of the image files  

 

Brian, waves are a possibility.

However the typical tsuba wave motif has more of a curl and a rounded "bulb" at the tip of each wave.

I know of some later Ukiyoe woodblock prints that have waves with pointed tips, but you don't see that in the waves of sukashi tsuba (or at least I can't remember seeing any specific examples). 

 

I suspect the motif on this one is probably intended to be flames, with one set of flames moving inward from the mimi, and another set moving outward from the seppa-dai.

Here's some flames from a Japanese depiction of a demon with a flaming sword:

 

Flames from a dragon's mouth, or flames around the sacred "tama" jewel are common motifs, but an entire tsuba of just flames is really rare. 

 

Regardless of whether these are flames or waves, the tsubako and/or patron who commissioned it was definitely not conforming to the "expected" and was probably trying to make a statement with this one.

It grabbed my attention the second I saw it, and it's one of my favorites. 

 

I'm hoping someone will eventually come through with a translation of all the script... keeping my fingers crossed

Maybe I should say, I'll keep a candle "burning" in anticipation? 

[ROKUJURO]

[SteveM]

Top picture

尾張左透し

厚手にして耳に鉄骨
あり鉄味あすき肌に
して真によろし
耳の？
　虫くゐあり　

 

To the left, Owari Sukashi*

Thick with tekkotsu in the mimi,

and iron with (asuki)** hada

making this a very fine piece.

In the 囗mimi there are worm/bug-eaten patterns.

 

* kind of unusual to see this word order, but I don't think it can mean anything else

** I think this is azuki-hada, and alludes to the color of the iron (the purplish color of red beans). Medium confidence on this one. 

囗 I can't figure this one out. I'm sure its describing the sukashi as being in the shape of worm-eaten wood, which is a common enough theme on tsuba, but I can't figure out the writing here.

 

小生の尾張透の中の～  I think he's saying something about this tsuba being one of his collection, but the bit after this is cut off (on the next page, so I can't quite see it)

 

鐔　加々見  The name of the book? Tsuba Kagami (tsuba and mirrors?) Are there oshigata of any bronze mirrors in it?
丘藤庵          The pen name of the author (Kyūtō-an, other possible readings)

写楽尾張鐔之也   Sharaku tsuba (I think this goes with an unrelated tsuba. Hard to tell when it is isolated from the context.

[GRC]

Thank-you Steve! That's fantastic 

Providing the typed kanji is immensely helpful.

I can use different translation apps to see what comes up  

 

The iron definitely has:

-thick tekkotsu

-a distinct deep, glossy, purply-graphite colour

-the surface is also fairly smooth (one of translation apps mentioned a reference to "smoothness" in the kanji that Steve provided)

 

1 hour ago, SteveM said:

In the 囗mimi there are worm/bug-eaten patterns.

I think the reference to the mimi could be correct... the entire mimi has a smooth but irregular surface with very long grooves and troughs formed by the tekkotsu. Perhaps these tunnel-like grooves  and indents are what the "insect-eaten pattern in the ears/mimi" is referring to?

 

Regarding the sukashi pattern itself:

There are some clear overlapping circles in the sukashi cutouts, so I could also see that applying to a more standard "insect eaten pattern", as Steve suggested.

But then... why does the author specifically refer to the "mimi"/"ears" if they were trying to describe the sukashi?

Just throwing some thoughts out there for potential discussion 

 

I'll find out about the kagami...

 

,and look into the "Sharaku" reference some more...

 

Thanks again SteveM!

 

[GRC]

Here's a condensed explanation of the "Sharaku" passage by ChatGPT:

The text "写楽尾張鐔之也" can be read as "Sharaku Owari tsuba no nari". "写楽" (Sharaku) refers to Toshusai Sharaku, a famous ukiyo-e artist who was active during the Edo period in Japan. "尾張鐔" (Owari tsuba) refers to a type of tsuba that was made in the Owari region of Japan. "之也" (no nari) is a phrase that can be translated as "also" or "as well".

 

I looked up info about "Sharaku" on this site:

UKIYO-E ARTISTS: SHARAKU, HOKUSAI, HIROSHIGE AND UTAGAWA | Facts and Details.

He was theorized to be a member of a samurai clan, and produced "outsider art" for a very short period of time. His style of ukiyo-e broke many of the art conventions of the time.  

Here is one of his works:

 

I wonder if the author's reference to this "outsider-artist's" name might allude to Owari-style tsuba made by smiths who may have been working independently from the main group of Owari smiths. Or, Owari tsuba that break from the norms and conventions of the typical Owari tsuba?

This tsuba does have unusual seppa-dai and hitsu-ana shapes, to go along with the atypical sukashi design. 

 

This is pure conjecture on my part, but it makes for an interesting story 

 

I'm going to have to find out what the other tsuba look like in this section of the oshigata book to see if this hypothesis adds up, or if it's just fanciful conjecture on my part...

[mywei]

@SteveM

耳の平_ _ に　maybe?

[SteveM]

Yes, I think you got it. Now to get that last bit...!

 

And I wish I had more confidence in あすき肌 or 真. I'm making a bit of a guess with both of these. 

 

 

 

 

 

[GRC]

I got some additional information from the owner of the oshigata.

 

Regarding the book title 鐔加々見:

It's a two book set, so the two cover photos I posted were from the two separate books compiled by the same author/collector.

The one with the three tsuba in the background is the older book.

This one appears to be some type of long term project that was slowly accumulated by the author 丘藤庵.

This is the one titled "Tsuba Kagami", but there are no kagami mirrors in the collection of images.

The owner of the oshigata books had an epiphany, and realized that it is probably meant to be a poetic title like "a mirror on tsuba" or "reflections of tsuba"... and it just occurred to me now that I'm thinking about it, maybe because these are rubbings of actual tsuba, the oshigata are the actual reflections of the tsuba.

So the book is a mirror of tsuba.

 

That's a clever title 

 

Regarding the "section title" 写楽尾張鐔之也

Scrap the theory I proposed earlier about the Ukiyo-e artist and outsider-art... it doesn't hold up at all (although it was fun to ponder...).

 

This section of the book includes 9 Owari tsuba in total, including this tsuba, as well as 2 Yagyu tsuba, so it samples from various Owari "schools".

Also the script appears to be different in this section, so it's probably a collection of 9 oshigata that the author got from a friend or fellow collector that includes 9 of that guy's collected Owari tsuba. That guy's pen-name is probably "Sharaku".

So it's like the author was saying "here's some additional Owari tsuba from a guy named "Sharaku".

 

The tsuba I posted was part of Sharaku's collection.

 

Regarding the "insect eating", that is on the "flat part of the ear" (thanks Matt ):

The owner of the oshigata thinks it's referring to some corrosion pitting in one area of the mimi... I think you can see the pitting in the 7-9 o'clock area of the image of the real tsuba.

He's going to send me a clearer picture of that page of the book so we can see the remaining script  

 

 

So, I think this solves three of the "mysteries" that came up in this little adventure.

 

Thanks for the help everyone.

I certainly found it interesting, but I obviously have a much closer connection to it   

I hope you all enjoyed the adventure as well...

 

[GRC]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that he stains run right through most of the book, and it looks like it was a coffee stain.

It even stains a postcard that was in the book so it definitely happened after the rubbings and the script were added.

 

There's even a newspaper clipping in the book with a date of "showa 24", which puts that particular entry at 1949.

I wonder when the collection started... 

but based on all the sections that were pieced into it, it probably took many years to accumulate all those rubbings, maybe even a decade or two.

 

[Nobody]

32 minutes ago, GRC said:

I got some additional information from the owner of the oshigata.

 

Regarding the book title 鐔加々見:

It's a two book set, so the two cover photos I posted were from the two separate books compiled by the same author/collector.

The one with the three tsuba in the background is the older book.

This one appears to be some type of long term project that was slowly accumulated by the author 丘藤庵.

This is the one titled "Tsuba Kagami", but there are no kagami mirrors in the collection of images.

The owner of the oshigata books had an epiphany, and realized that it is probably meant to be a poetic title like "a mirror on tsuba" or "reflections of tsuba"... and it just occurred to me now that I'm thinking about it, maybe because these are rubbings of actual tsuba, the oshigata are the actual reflections of the tsuba.

So the book is a mirror of tsuba.

 

................................................................................

 

 

I think that "Tsuba Kagami" means "Examples of Tsuba".

 

[GRC]

Hi Moriyama,

Could "examples of tsuba" be written more simply as "tsuba no rei" 鍔の例 ?

 

Is it common to use the word "kagami" to mean "examples of" in Japan?

 

Writing "tsuba kagami" seems to give a sense of "reflection" because it includes the word for "mirror".

So is it just a more poetic or metaphorical way of saying "examples of tsuba"?

 

Thanks 

 

 

[Nobody]

“鐔の例” is so tasteless for its title.

In some contexts, it is not strange to use kagami as example, model, or pattern.

[GRC]

Thanks Moriyama san.

I got "鐔の例" from an online translator and I have never learned Japanese, so I have no foundation for judging the literary merits of what comes up in the translator. 

That's why it's helpful to gain some insights from native Japanese speakers. 

[GRC]

One correction:

The second book has the dated newspaper clipping, so the first book was compiled in the years prior that. 

[GRC]

Regarding the the motif of the sukashi:

I was chatting with the owner of the oshigata books and he thinks that a "flames of Hell" motif would be in keeping with the outrageous and rebellious expression of the Kabuki-mono, ronin samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, coinciding with the time that this tsuba was made.

 

Here's some info on the Kabuki-mono and their gangs of "hooligans" if anyone is interested:

Kabukimono - Wikipedia