Thursday 31 January 2008


The ura, or reverse ( obverse ) of the Falling ginko leaves tsuba. The little leaf is in shiro-shibuichi ( white shibuichi; 60% silver and 40% copper ). The inscription on the right is the date and that on the left reads; zuiteppitsu. It means "following the iron brush" in Japanese. I coined the term as a name for my studio and this was the first time I used it. I'll get round to writing a little explanation of how the term came about, where it originates and the meaning of the kanji.

3 comments:

Fred Zweig said...

Ford,

A wonderful tsuba and how great to have made it as a tribute to someone.

I recently did a repousse plaque of two Ginkgo leaves. They are not available to observe here in Tucson and so I had to do my research on-line. There is something very seductive about their shape and texture.

It is a treat to have a glimpse of your work accompanied by a little history.

Fred

sjoerd said...

When I was a little laddy I read a story on the Hiroshima bombardment. It stated that many ginko trees survived the inferno.

The past few weeks I've been hammering and chiselling some mokume ginko brooches. Sore thumb.

Ford Hallam said...

Hi Sjoerd,

Ginko trees are among the oldest living trees on the planet. They seem to relatively unaffected by modern pollution and thrive where most trees would die. As for the sore thumb...try not to rely on your thumb to control the direction of the punch, that is the job of the hammer and your eye. If your thumb is sore you must aim your tools more accurately.