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Sam & KJ's Suiseki Blog (水石)

Sam & KJ's Suiseki Blog (水石)

Category Archives: Suiseki

Edge Artworks Launches…

02 Thursday May 2019

Posted by Sam Edge in Art, Bonsai Pots, Bunzan, Chinese Pot, Chrysanthemem Stones, Diaza, Doban, Japan, Photography, Suiban, Suiseki, Suiskei

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KJ and I have discussed for a while if we should sell a part of our collection of stones, stand and the like. After much discussion, a site was built to do just that.

http://www.edgeartworks.com

The commerce website contains some fine suiseki from Japan and viewing stones from the United States and China. A number of bonsai pots, dobans and suibans are available; primarily sourced from Japan but also elsewhere.

Stands, which seem to be hard to find these days, are also available in different shapes and sizes; most are from Japan and were imported many years ago.

Check out the bronze given to us from Mr. Saburo Kato’s family shortly after his death. This would be a wonderful display piece with either a stone or tree.

Bronze Temple from the Saburo Sato Collection

There are also a number of books; primarily bonsai books with a few suiseki catalogs. Lastly, there are about 60 deep sky photos that can be printed from ~12 inches to as large as 60 inches. If you have interest in the photos, just email us and we can discuss sizes and finishes. Our home as M42, the Great Orion Nebula, hanging above our fireplace. It was printed 52-inches square on canvas.

M42 – The Great Nebula in the Constellation of Orion


We attempt to ship within 24 hours of an order. International orders can not be competed directly from the website. Just email us with the SKU number and we can make arrangements to ship things to you.

Feel free to browse and we thank you for doing so!

Lastly, if you would like for us to help you sell something similar to what we have listed, just reach out to us and we can discuss…

Best,
Sam and KJ

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Yayoijin – The Last Day of Spring

14 Friday Apr 2017

Posted by Sam Edge in Furuya Stone, Suiseki, Viewing Stones

≈ 2 Comments

In late 2016 an opportunity arose to acquire several nice stones from a collection in Japan.  What made these two stones special was knowing the prior owners and the provenance of the stones.  The first stone we present has the formal name of “Yayoijin” which directly translated means the last day of the third month of the lunar calendar. The more poetic meaning is – the last day of spring.

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Yayoijin – Furuya Mountain Stone – 14cm x 7.5cm x 4cm

The word yayoijin is used in haiku poetry, and in the case of the stone it likely refers to the find thread waterfalls, in which the final melt off of the once snow covered peaks.

This is a small stone at only 14cm wide (5.5 inches) but it has great character, movement and lovely thread waterfalls.  It has ideal “shun” – surface texture that the great Furuya stones have.

Provenance

IMG_0009-20

Inscribed by Tanimoto Hyakusui

This stone was once owned by Tanimoto Kyakusui who was a great authority on Furya stones from Wakayama back before the stone boom (1960s).  He was a stone dealer, and inscribed most of his boxes, and was also a daiza carver. In this case, the daiza was not carved by him but by a different person.  A side note is that Tanimoto was Koju Suzuki’s teacher for daiza making.

L1090346

Fune (Boat)

The daiza was carved by a person using the “Fune” mark which translated means boat.  All we currently know about him was he was one of the top daiza carvers in the Tanabe aera from the 1960s-1980s.

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The back of the box has text that we have not had translated as of yet. It also includes at least three seals. One we recognize as that of Sugii Chugi from Kyoto. Sugii had an incredible collection of stones and we are very pleased this one came from his personal collection.  At the end of Sugii’s life his collection was sold and this stone passed into the hands of Matsurra Arishige, the past president of the Japan Suiseki Association.  We hope to have the back side of the lid of the kiri-bako translated at some point. Help anyone?

IMG_0007-21

Sugii’s Stamp and Box Number

From the left side of the box, we see Sugii’s stamp and his acquisition number of 421.  This is a relatively early addition to his collection as we have seen other box numbers 2900 and higher.  As we mentioned, Sugii had an extensive collection.

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Matsuura’s Seals

Now that we are temporary owners of this wonderful stone, we wanted to share it with you so that its beauty can be seen beyond those that have had the opportunity to hold and cherish it.

More to come…

An Old Suiseki from the Kamogawa

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by Sam Edge in Japan, Kyoto, Suiseki

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Kyoto, Rai San'yo, Suiseki

It is hard to believe we haven’t posted since who knows when but life has been busy as we moved across the country to be closer to family.

We haven’t been to Japan in a few years which means our collection of Japanese suiseki has been sparse. Our time has been spent collecting stones from Northern California rivers and about those we hope to post soon.  Today, we want to share with you a stone we purchased from Kyoto, Japan.

One of the suiseki sites we take a peek at a few times a week is Mr. Kawai’s located in Kyoto.  We visited him a few years ago and he is not only a delightful individual he has a great collection of stones for sale in his second floor shop above his flower store.  We had seen this stone on his site, but unfortunately the photos were small and didn’t reveal how beautiful this stone actually is.  We were fortunate to have Dr. Tom Elias and Hiromi Nakaoji post a photo of this stone on their VSANA Facebook page after their return from Japan last month.  When we saw it we immediately went back to Mr. Kawai’s site to see if it was available.  After a few days of negotiations on price, we purchased the stone.

Kamogawa (11x4x5")

Kamogawa (28 x 10 x 12.7cm)

This is a remarkable stone and without question one of the nicest in our collection. It reminds us of the stone said to be owned by Rai San’yo a very long time ago and reportedly is from the Kamogawa . The name of this stone is Yamato Murayama (“Mountains of the Kanto Plain”) and is 27.0 x 10.0 x 8.0 cm.

Rai San'yo stone

Rai San’yo stone

We wonder if our stone wasn’t modeled after the Rai San’yo stone. What do you think?  Let’s take a look at the other views of the stone and its daiza.

IMG_0007-6 IMG_0008-6IMG_0003-7Unfortunately the daiza isn’t marked so it is impossible to tell who made it, but their craftsmanship was superb as seen by viewing the detail on it’s edges. Click the photo for a much larger version.

So what about the stone being worked. It is clear to us that it has as we can see marks on the stone. Does it diminish it for us? Not at all.  The Rai San’yo stone was worked as well and it is still shown at the Nippon Suiseki show in Japan.  Clearly because it is an important stone, has a provenance and it quite beautiful.

We only know the stone was in a collection in Japan for a very long time. We have no idea what was the cause for selling it but often stones exchange hands at the end of one’s life.  Regardless of the cause we are quite happy it has a home with us.

Recent Posts

  • Final Mas Nakajima Suiseki Group for Sale December 6, 2021
  • Mas Nakajima’s Suiseki for Sale April 1, 2021
  • Edge Artworks Launches… May 2, 2019
  • “She Just Needed To Be Who She Really Was.” February 12, 2019
  • Su Shi (蘇軾) – Chinese Poet December 11, 2018
  • Kokan Shiren (虎関師錬), 1278–1347) October 31, 2018
  • The Book of Tea, Part III October 22, 2018
  • The Book of Tea, Part II October 20, 2018
  • The Book of Tea, Part I October 18, 2018
  • Tanimoto’s stone “Ryozan” October 11, 2018
  • A Older Japanese Boat Stone October 8, 2018
  • Tsukiji Market, an 83-Year-Old Tokyo Icon, Set to Close October 4, 2018
  • Suiseki Stones for Sale July 23, 2018
  • Larry Ragle’s Buffalo Stone March 21, 2018
  • Viewing Stones for Sale March 14, 2018
  • The annual Viewing Stones Show presented by the California Aiseki Kai December 18, 2017
  • In Search of a Stone September 24, 2017
  • Shoshuhei a Kamuikotan-ishi Stone July 21, 2017
  • Yayoijin – The Last Day of Spring April 14, 2017
  • Viewing Stone Auctions April 10, 2017
  • Updated Catalog & Facebook February 1, 2017
  • Stone and Stories; Creating Provenance January 23, 2017
  • Bonsai Pot Collection Sales Catalog December 2, 2016
  • David Goscinksi’s New Stone Site October 26, 2016
  • Kiri-bako for your collectibles October 6, 2016
  • Kan Yasuda | Touching Time March 10, 2016
  • NHK World On Demand Videos – Suiseki & Tea Ceremony January 21, 2016
  • Private Collections – Hidden from View January 7, 2016
  • Collections – Being Purposeful December 8, 2015
  • Suzuki Koji November 19, 2015
  • An Old Suiseki from the Kamogawa December 17, 2014
  • Japanese Aesthetics and Suiseki June 18, 2014
  • Shiokai Kenji Pots – Kaohsiung Koha or Takao-koyo March 27, 2014
  • Classical Bonsai Art March 25, 2014
  • Spirit Stones, The Ancient Art of Scholar’s Rocks November 17, 2013
  • Suiseki For Sale by David & Jeff October 27, 2013
  • North American Viewing Stones October 11, 2013
  • California Suiseki Society July 8, 2013
  • Bonsai Professional Peter Tea June 1, 2013
  • Miyazaki Isseki March 19, 2013
  • Richard Rosenblum Collection March 4, 2013
  • Tables – Outstanding Craftsmen from Japan February 17, 2013
  • Katsuragi Kozan — Table Craftsman February 15, 2013
  • The Green Club 2013 February 13, 2013
  • Furuya Stones February 4, 2013
  • The Suiseki Art of Mas Nakajima January 27, 2013
  • Bay Island Bonsai Exhibit of Fine Bonsai 2013 January 22, 2013
  • Bay Island Bonsai – 2013 Exhibit January 17, 2013
  • Bunzan Pots – A Few More January 14, 2013
  • Ichiyo Bonsai Pots January 7, 2013

Blogroll

  • Aichi-en Journal by Peter Tea
  • Aiseki Magazine
  • Art of the Daiza
  • Bonsai Boon
  • Bonsai in Japan
  • Bonsai Network Japan
  • Bonsai Tonight
  • Bonsai Tree Care
  • Bunjin Journal
  • California Aiseki Kai
  • Dan Barton Bonsai Pots
  • Natural Bonsai
  • Nichigo Bonsai
  • Nippon Suiseki Association
  • Peter Tea Bonsai
  • San Francisco Suiseki Kai
  • Suiseki Art
  • Tyler Sherrod Bonsai
  • Viewing Stone Association of North America
  • WordPress.com
  • WordPress.org

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