Der Waechter des Nordens und sein Bote
Tobita Yoshimichi · Tsuba · Shakudo · Spaete Edo-Zeit
Tobita Yoshimichi Tsuba
He does not move. That is the first thing about Bishamonten: he stands, always stands, with the absolute stillness of someone who has never needed to hurry. The armor is complete — helmet with flames, layered shoulder guards, leg armor, boots — and in his hands the two canonical attributes: the hoko, the halberd, and the miniature pagoda containing the treasure of Buddhist teaching. His expression is stern without being angry. He is here because he was always here, guarding the north, protecting those who believe correctly. Below him, in the water to the left, his messenger moves.
Der Mukade
One of the so-called Four Guardian Kings, Bishamonten was revered as a god of warriors. In Japan, the giant centipede, Omukade, was the messenger of the god of warfare, Bishamonten. The centipede in Japan is associated with success in battle, so it was adopted as a symbol by the samurai; Takeda Shingen had one on his battle flag. The mukade never retreats: it moves forward on its many legs without the possibility of backward motion. To place both god and messenger on a single tsuba is to compress an entire theology of martial protection into an object the size of a hand. Bishamonten’s associations: North, Winter, Black, Treasure, Centipedes, Faith.
Das Objekt
The ground material is shakudo, its surface worked to the deep register that a high gold content produces. Against this ground the Bishamonten figure rises in iroe takazogan of considerable sculptural ambition: the armor plates individually rendered, the flame halo three-dimensional enough to cast shadow, the pagoda in one hand a complete miniature form. The mukade below occupies the lower left of the plate, its body worked with precision. Bamboo grass shoots in gold are scattered across the lower field. Above, a pine branch in fine kebori with gold dot accents extends across the upper register. The signature 忠田義道作 (Tobita Yoshimichi saku) is engraved between the nakago-ana and the left hitsu-ana.
Die Rueckseite
The ura moves the register from divine to natural. A gnarled tree sweeps from the lower left in a long arc. Older and more weathered than a decorative pine, its bark textured in deep nikubori, its branches reaching. From the branches, autumn maple leaves in multiple metals: copper-red, a darker alloy, gold: The three metals together suggesting the full range of autumn color that no single material can provide. A pine branch at upper right with gold dot accents ties the two faces together. Below the tree, a waterfall descends through the rocks in fine parallel engraving, its falling water caught in vertical lines with gold accents. Pine, autumn maple, and waterfall: three elements that together signal the particular atmosphere of a mountain forest in late autumn when the leaves are turning and water runs cold and clear. After the intensity of Bishamonten on the front, this is the place the warrior returns to when the god has done his work.
Mito Bishamonten Tsuba
Tsuba. Tobita Yoshimichi. Shakudo migaki-ji, iroe takazogan in kin, gin und do. Maru-gata. Bishamonten to mukade zu / Momiji ni taki no zu. Spaete Edo-Zeit. Signiert: 忠田義道作. Privatsammlung, erworben in Europa.