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Sword Ware with Monkey Motif
IMSA#: PMO-39
Estimated Date:
1900
Country of Origin:
Japan
Manufacturer:
Unknown (possibly Komai (either
O. or S. Komai)
Catalog No.:
Material:
Shakudo, an alloy of gold and copper, usually a
blue-black color & various inlays of shibuichi (silver & copper).
Markings:
Maker's mark in
Japanese
Patent/Design No.:
Patent/Design Date:
Size (Inches):
2 1/2" x 1 1/2" x
1/2"
Reverse:
Different monkey motif, see
photo.
Description and
Comments:
Monkey motif with striker on bottom. Some parts of this safe was
made from sword fittings, the KASHIRA (fitting at end of handle), nakago ana
(the almost triangular opening where the striker is on the vesta, sekigane (the
oval shape around the opening of the striker). The metal working technique used
is:Zogan (inlay). Inlay involves the embedding of relatively soft metals such as
gold and silver into a harder ground made of materials such as copper, iron,
brass, shakudo or shibuichi. There are a number of techniques, including line
inlay (sen-zogan), flat inlay hira-zogan), high
relief inlay (takaniku-zogan), polished out inlay (togidashi-zogan) and thread
inlay (ito-zogan). Here is some background info: The metalsmiths drew
inspiration for their themes from folk tales, historical events, religion,
heraldry, nature, and the works of the greatest Chinese and Japanese painters.
Our appreciation of the difficulty of the guard maker's (the portion of the
sword that was turned into a vesta) task increases as one considers the physical
limitations of shape, size, and function with which the tsuba (sword guard)
challenged the creativity of the maker.
Submitted BY:
From the
collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian
Institution. Gift of Carol B. and Stephen W. Brener.
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