“… But maybe we haven't seen all the tsuba?
Thought to the very point."
(From comments on the site)
Fat cat, Stretched out on a fan, sleeps
Sweet, sweet …
Issa
So, our story about tsubah is gradually coming to an end. First of all, we found out that there is a lot of tsub, not just a lot, but so many that you cannot count. Their collections are kept in our Kunstkammer, and also in the Hermitage, it is clear that they simply cannot be in the Tokyo National Museum, and, of course, it is not surprising that they are in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, and the Honolulu Museum, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art … However, it would probably be easier to name a museum where they are not, than one of the world's famous museums, where they would not exist at all. And all because the mount of the Japanese sword was removable, and any number of frames could be put on one and the same blade, including the same tsubas. That allowed true artists to create not only to order, but also to take, and do something just like that, from the heart. And then the masters became famous, their works were cherished and preserved, forged - but what about without it, well, they copied … That is why, as a result, tsuba are found in such numbers today. Therefore, if you, well … let's say, decided to start collecting them, then you don't even need to go anywhere. All that is required is a computer, desire, and money, of course.
Well, today we will tell a story about the plots. The plots found on tsubas, and as numerous as they are. And let's start with the fact that we note: a lot of tsubas are associated with nature. These are the themes of rain, wind, fallen leaves driven by the wind, curls of sea waves and foam flying over them - all this was successfully conveyed to the Japanese masters. But there was one thing that exists only in Japan and is associated with it, although the "thing" is not so rare in other parts of the planet. This is just a mountain, an extinct volcano - Mount Fuji, known and loved by everyone for its exquisitely perfect silhouette! Her images in Japan are found on a variety of objects, and tsuba is by no means an exception.
Tsuba "Fuji and the Traveler." The beginning of the 19th century Material: iron, silver, shakudo, copper. Length: 7 cm. Width: 6.4 cm. Thickness: 0.5 cm. Weight: 82.2 g. … And this "picture" is also interesting in its own way: two unusual pines on the seashore and sails among the waves. It would seem nothing special, but the plot is very touching. You can look at it and look at it …
The same tsuba is a reverse.
However, one could associate Fuji with a snail that crawls along its slope, and … with the clouds, see Fuji through the slanting streams of rain, and even depict a dragon next to her. And the dragon in Japan is a positive creature, and to see it - fortunately!
Tsuba "Fuji and the Dragon". Obverse. XVIII century Material: iron, gold, silver, copper. Length: 8, 7 cm. Width: 8, 1 cm. Thickness: 0, 3 cm. Weight: 136, 1 g.
The same tsuba is a reverse.
But this is just Fuji … Tsuba of the 18th century. Material: Shibuichi, Shakudo, Gold, Silver, Copper. Length: 7, 5 cm. Width: 6, 4 cm. Thickness: 0.5 cm. Weight: 110.6 g.
However, why is it necessary to Fuji? On the tsuba, “just mountains” could be depicted, and next to them houses, boats, bridges, trees and flowers. Here, for example, two tsubas, on which just such mountains are depicted, even more reminiscent of hills and … that's all. Look at them and think that “there can be only mountains better than mountains”!
Tsuba overlooking the mountains. OK. 1615-1868 Material: iron, copper, shakudo, gold.
Length: 8.6 cm. Width: 8, 1 cm. Thickness: 0, 6 cm. Weight: 175.8 g.
Tsuba with mountain views. Master Yamashiro of Fushimi, 16th century. (Tokyo National Museum)
This tsuba is very unusual. Let's call it so: "Mountains and Shells". It was made in the 17th century, that is, it was already a time of peace and the craftsmen had time to just sit down and think about the order, without much hurrying anywhere. Material: shakudo, shibuichi, gold, copper. Dimensions: length: 8, 7 cm; width 8, 3 cm; thickness 0.8 cm; weight 187, 1 g. On it there are two small mountains, swirling clouds, and below on a sandy bank are shells. And what would all this mean?
Now let's move on from the topic of mountains to the topic of … mystical creatures. Because in one of the comments to the previous article there was just a question about whether different … "impure" were depicted on tsubas. They were portrayed! And the reason for this is that even the demons in Japan are not like those of other nations - that is, "bad from start to finish." No, in Japan, for the most part, even "bad" otherworldly entities … have some positive personality traits. That is, everything is like in "Return of the Jedi" - "There is still good in it!" Here are the Japanese fairy-tale creatures, and demonic beings in some way bad, and in some way good, and … why not depict them in this case on a tsuba?
Who is most often seen on tsubas? Well, for example, baku is something like a hybrid of an elephant, a bear, a tiger, and even with an oxtail. What does baku do? It eats bad dreams! If you had a nightmare at night, you had to say: “Baku kurae! Baku kurae! (eat baku, eat baku!) ". But if the dream is very terrible, then the baku could choke on it, and then the person could say: "Even baku choked on it!" That is, nothing could be worse than this!
Oni - Japanese devils with colored skin are also very popular. And primarily because, like our A. S. Pushkin, their malignancy is far from unambiguous. True, it is better not to have them in the house. But it is not difficult to expel them either. In the spring, it is enough to scatter fried beans around the house, the touch of which is disgusting for them, and then sweep them outside the threshold with the verdict: "Fuku wa uchi, they oto you" - "happiness in the house, devils out." It also happened that they did a good deed and then one of his horns fell off. Junkuy constantly fights with them (we have already written about who he is and how he looks), but they often tweak tricks for him.
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Here is a tsuba (obverse) depicting an oni (left), 1615-1868. Material: iron, copper, shibuichi, silver. Length: 8.6 cm; width 7, 9 cm; thickness 0.8 cm. Weight 207 g.
The same tsuba (reverse). On it is a magic mirror in which the goddess Amaterasu saw herself.
Tengu are winged and nosed creatures that live in the forest. Judging by the written sources written after the XII century, they were often engaged in teaching the martial arts of various heroes. That is, the hero could go to them, as we have Ivan Tsarevich to Baba Yaga, and ask him to teach him the art of fighting with swords. And tsubas with such a plot are known. Although in Japan it was customary to scare naughty children with them: "Here the tengu will come and take you to the forest!"
But there are also purely Japanese demonic entities, unknown among other peoples. For example, a kappa, a scaly creature with a depression on its head in which water is poured. It can take on a human form, but in this form it is not difficult to recognize it by its smell. Drags people and horses into the water and drinks their blood. Meeting a kappa does not bode well for a person. But the kappa is a polite creature. Highly! If you bow to him, it will certainly bow in return. The water from the container on the head will pour out and the kappa will weaken. After that, she can be caught and forced to drive fish for the fishermen. Tsubako masters portrayed the kappa for … her pimpled skin. Like, this is what a skilled craftsman I am and what I can do!
Among the readers of VO there were several people who wanted to see cats on tsubas. And - yes, indeed, cats were depicted on tsubas. And not only cats, but many "our smaller brothers", for example, foxes and badgers were popular animals, and why you will find out now. The fact is that it was the fox (kitsune) that was the main werewolf animal, which most often turned into a woman in order to seduce a Japanese man and destroy him. But this concerned only red foxes, but silver foxes never harmed people, but on the contrary, they always helped. It was as easy as shelling pears to turn a fox into a man: it was only necessary to wrap the head with algae in the moonlight and - that's it, the transformation took place. But it was not too difficult to recognize the fox wife. It was enough to look at her shadow on the screen from the burning hearth. If she was … not a woman, then you could immediately grab the sword and chop off her head!
The badger (tanuki) usually turned into men, but did not harm anyone. He loved alcohol, so his figurine was usually placed near drinking establishments. The tanuki's favorite pastime was to inflate the belly and pound on it with their paws. He could inflate to enormous sizes and what happened below the belly and in this "original form" of tanuki was depicted on tsubah. Or the whole tsuba (obverse) looked like the belly of a swollen tanuki, and where he was on it himself, you had to guess, that is, look at the reverse.
The image of a cat (neko) with a raised paw for the Japanese was of particular importance. If the right one is the owner of the house and invites you to come in, and if the left one - then … the owner is a pragmatic person who is interested exclusively in money. And they are also werewolves, like foxes, but not as harmful. In harmful ones, two tails grow in old age, and it becomes a nekomata. Moreover, a person who has offended or killed a cat is bound to undergo revenge by werewolf cats. The avenger cat will appear to him in nightmares, and then simply bite him. That is why the Japanese even now give cats complete freedom, believing that this is the only way a cat can be completely happy. Any restriction of feline desires, in their opinion, is reprehensible and may entail revenge on the part of the cat, which, of course, is best avoided.
Tsuba "Cat". Signed by Master Jock, Tokyo, 18th - early 19th century. Material: iron, lacquer, gold. Length 8, 3 cm, width 7, 6 cm.
P. S. All tsubas without specifying their location are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
