Ohno Christian/Buddhist Tsuba (for whopping $112 on Jauce)

[Iaido dude]

The motif on the left is stylized rosary beads.

 

https://iidakoendo.com/11883/

 

 

[MauroP]

Where is the rosary? The NBTHK paper says hana-mon sukashi tsuba...

[Iaido dude]

That’s in the description on the link. 

[Spartancrest]

信家（放れ銘）花文透鐔
Nobuie Tsuba with Rosary Design

 

Even when the seller says "Rosary" it doesn't necessarily mean a Christian symbol. Buddhists also use a "Rosary" of beads so it is even more likely to be a  Buddhist tsuba. But the design is strangely jagged for a rosary!

caveat emptor - buyer beware or make your own assessment = don't just go with the sellers description, he just wants a sale! 

[Iaido dude]

Nobuie is speculated to have included Christian iconography in his works. We also know that stylized renderings are common and may not be intuitive in their intended meaning. Even if Nobuie were not a Christian, he mat have made it as a hidden Christian tsuba on commission for a high-ranking buke who practiced Christianity. That would explain the stylization of the motifs. And I would agree that rosary beads are common to both Christian and Buddhist practice. If that Nobuie we were discussing does have a somewhat hidden Christian symbol on the right side, it is a possibility that the Christian rosary is depicted on the left side. This rendering of the rosary is identical to the one I posted from the Iida-Koendo site, which has quite a few Nobuie and Kanshiro Nishigaki works. I would think this seller is reputable. 

 

There are well-known Momoyama works  y Nobuie that feature distinctly Buddhist iconography such as the 8-fold path. 

 

We can’t very well ask him what his spiritual practices were, but he lived in a time when Christianity was being practiced and often simultaneously along with Buddhism since the eastern orientation is toward a “both/and” sensibility. 

[Steve Waszak]

The literature on Nobuie tsuba as regards Christian motifs indicates (proves?) that such tsuba were made, and that the iconography was not hidden.  Rather, it is more likely that we are simply not understanding the reference intended by the sukashi motif that has a strong floral suggestion.  From Ito Mitsuru's book, Nobuie, we see three examples of early-Momoyama Nobuie tsuba with motifs identified as Christian (see below).  And from Nobuie Tsuba ( which includes reproductions of Nobuie tsuba rubbings from Nakamura Kakudayu's Nobuie Tanshu), we see a specific sword guard noted, with the write-up (translated by Markus Sesko) recognizing the motif to be Christian (see images below referencing tsuba #61).  

 

Sometimes, it seems that there is a notion that all Christian iconography that tsubako may have employed must have been hidden, but during the time of Oda Nobunaga, especially, Christianity was practiced openly, and several prominent members of the Buke were known to be Christian.  Given the elevated status of such men, and the standing of Nobuie as a tsubako, we can see that displays of Christian identity and/or association were hardly in need of being in the shadows.

 

 

 

[Iaido dude]

Thanks, Steve. It’s good to know that the association of Nobuie with Christian iconography and practice during his time is likely not just speculative and is supported by published scholarship. Perhaps the best conclusions we can possibly reach should always frame the question against the historical, sociocultural, political, religious, and known aesthetic landscape that existed at the time. The question of whether Nobuie was himself a Christian may not be easily determined (I was under the impression that there are no reliable supporting historical records to this effect), but I’m convinced that he made Christian tsuba whose meaning was clear to those who openly displayed them.