Ever wondered how menuki were made?

[Ford Hallam]

I recently made a pair of menuki following the classical Japanese approach and using the uchi-dashi process.

As this is not a technique that's been illustrated in any significant way previously, anywhere , I took the time the take photographs of the project as it proceeded.

 

You can see the images here.

 

The design is my own but I think it's reasonably traditional/classical, late Edo perhaps. The metal is about 22ct and is an alloy of silver and gold that is known as Ao-kin( green-gold) in Japanese. As the final weight was a factor (what with the gold price being so high etc) I used quite a thin sheet, around .75mm whereas usually 1.1mm, or more, would make the job a little easier. These measure 3.7 cm and 4.3 cm long and weigh about 14 grams together.

 

I've not previously done anything this fine, or complex, in uchidashi before and I now think I can better appreciate why menuki were at one time considered the pinnacle of tosogu manufacture. There's almost as much work in making a pair like this as there is in making the average tsuba.

 

I haven't really done any proper photo editing as yet so the colours are all over the place but I hope my little photo essay sheds at least a little light on a fairly obscure process.

 

regards,

 

ford

[Toryu2020]

Terrific work.

-t

[machinist]

Powerfully sensitive work, and yes I was wondering how menuki were made.

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Deserves to become a sticky. (IMHO)

[Amon]

Ford!

 

Thanks for sharing!

Very interesting and magnificent work.

 

Kind regards,

[Curgan]

Splendid! As always very educational!

[BMarkhasin]

Fantastic work Ford! Thanks for illustrating the process -- very educational. You are giving me a great appreciation of the skill-set involved in making quality tosogu. However, I have a question (or 10...).

 

In old menuki, there is occasionally evidence of sprues on the backs and rarely I have even seen minute porosity likely resulting from degassing. These observations are suggestive of a casting process leading to some partially formed intermediate product, which would then be worked further to achieve the desired levels of detail. What are your thoughts on this form of menuki manufacture?

 

Thanks for the insights.

Best Regards,

Boris.

[drdata]

Wow. Truly impressive. I would have bet that lost wax casting was used to make menuki.

 

Very nice work there Ford. Thanks for posting.

[Steve Waszak]

Absolutely fascinating, and wonderful work, Ford. Many thanks for the terrific "process photos."

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[Ford Hallam]

I'm really chuffed you're getting something out of these images. Cheers all

 

Boris,

 

what you are describing sounds awfully like a modern jewellery casting. Casting metal in such thin section purely with a gravity pour, maybe a hand swung centrifuge arrangement, is unlikely in my opinion. Then you have to discover what was used to make the moulds and I doubt clay, however fine, would hold up on such a complex form as a menuki. Consider also the wax model you need to start with. Without rubber moulds and wax injection it would mean each wax would have to be first carved individually. So I can't see any evidence that such a process was ever used in the past.

 

regards,

ford

[Pete Klein]

LOL -- Ford -- you have absolutely no idea of how happy you just made me!!! ROFLMAO!!!

[Ford Hallam]

Hiya Pete,

 

clearly not :D ...but you know me, always doing my best to spread good cheer

[bridgeofdreams]

Ford,

 

Stunning work, and very informative, as I said elsewhere. I'll be back many times to look more and more carefully.

 

On the subject of casting which Boris raised, someone - I don't recall now who* - asked me a few years back to help them find a Japanese Museum exhibit catalog (probably) that showed some molds that had been used, perhaps by the Goto. Bob Haynes said that he thought it sounded familiar, but neither he nor I have been able to identify the publication. Perhaps it will turn up one day.

 

Craig

 

*Rich Turner? Pete? In the face of probable eventual Alzheimer's, I ought to start taking more careful notes.

[Bugyotsuji]

Wonderful. Many thanks for sharing this. Quite an eye-opener.

[Den]

Very impressive work!

 

Thank you for taking the time to educate us!

[Ford Hallam]

Glad to help, Gents

 

Craig,

 

perhaps you're referring to these images. They're from the Sano Art Museum catalogue; Sword Fittings by the Family of Goto.1994

 

 

These are actually sample imprints taken from completed menuki as a means of record keeping. The actual piece is pressed into a fine, wet clay first and this is allowed to dry. Once the clay is dry, and hard, hot matsuyani (pine rosin, that we use to secure the work when carving etc) is pressed into the clay mould.

 

There are quite a few such samples in existence in fact. I posted some images of others here on the NMB some time ago when a similar query was raised. I think these sorts of misunderstanding are fairly common when academics try to interpret material without reference to any relevant empirical knowledge that may still be available.

 

regards,

 

ford

[myochin]

Similar examples are also found in the "Katchû - Abumi - Tôsôgû, Kaga Han no Katchû" exhibition catalogue, 1997.

There are also some wooden tsuba examples.