Jan 8 2016
towards a definition of the...
Moulded leather gunpowder flask with lead shot pouch, Tunisia. The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford 1900.3.9
Origin
This idea grew out of residency at Pitt Rivers Museum, April - September 2015.
An investigation into leather objects in the collection, ornate bottles and flasks from different cultures. I called them ‘objects of curious construction’ because they seemed enigmatic, ‘over-designed’ suggesting that something else was going on over and above function and display. A powerful sense of some other potential - to the wearer and observer. Not symbolic, more thought-provoking. Some gunpowder flasks have secondary vessels attached. Of completely different style, shape and material. The secondary vessel seems like a companion or familiar, setting up a dialogue between the two connected objects. Mirroring the relationship between the wearer and the object itself. This interested me and gave me the idea of the ‘companion object’.
Detail: leather lead shot pouch for Tunisian gunpowder flask, The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. 1900.3.9
(The only other usage of the phrase I have found so far is from Scala, a programming language for software applications).
Detail: leather covered gourd vessel for gunpowder, Nigeria. The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. 1914.26.98.1
Gourd vessel for gunpowder, with drum-shaped shot-holder, Nigeria. The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford 1914.26.98.1
Definition
The Companion Object is a physical artefact, carried or worn on the body. Rooted in practical function (as in a container or carrying pouch) its design and construction clearly communicate an expressive power which transcends function, so that it is not merely decorative, but becomes a focus for contemplation. This creates a dialogue with the wearer or viewer, and can act as a stimulator or springboard for questioning.
This expressive element is what differentiates it from other functional, intimate objects. A carrying pouch (belt, glove, hat) may be a Companion Object, depending in its design and construction, but not all pouches (belts, gloves, hats) are Companion Objects.
A mobile phone is not a Companion object in this sense, because it is a vehicle of technology without individual character, designed as a service for continual ‘upgrade’. We may become attached to their immaterial functions, but not the particular object.
To be clear, I do not intend to focus on ‘meaning’ in the sense of culturally specific ideas such as status, ‘talismanic’ or protective powers, as I think these are inferred, invested in or imposed on the object from outside by the viewer or wearer. I am interested in the qualities that communicate themselves to the viewer, regardless of cultural knowledge, through the manipulation of material. These may give rise to thoughts about healing, well-being, balance with nature - but are not ’fixed’ within the object. In this sense, a Companion Object may become a talisman to a specific person, but is not designed or created as one. (“Art making is concerned with providing ways of seeing and ways of being in relation to what is, was, or might be.” Scrivener, S. (2002) ‘The art object does not embody a form of knowledge.’)
Smoking set with masks, Japanese. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA. 18th-19th century (Edo-Meiji) Acc.No. 73.81
Desc: The masks on the tobacco pouch and the netsuke represent those seen at the No Theater. The netsuke is by Tadatsugu.
Tadatsugu (Japanese) (Artist)
PERIOD 18th-19th century (Edo-Meiji)
MEDIUM (Leather) embossed leather, lacquer, wood, sperm whale tooth, silver, gold-copper (shakudo), bamboo
ACCESSION NUMBER 73.81
MEASUREMENTS 4 1/8 x 5 1/2 in. (10.48 x 13.97 cm); case: 8 7/8 in. (22.54 cm) (l.)
GEOGRAPHIES Japan (Place of Origin)
LOCATION WITHIN MUSEUM Not On View
Defining features of the Companion Object
Carried, worn close to the body, personal
Craftsmanship, skill in construction, Individually, not mass- produced HAND-MADE?
Expressive, over and above function (‘Supra functional’?)
Smoking pipe & case, tobacco pouch (sagemono) British Museum
I have long known and loved this wooden pouch (right). It was on display in the Japanese Gallery at the British Museum until last year which I would often visit when I lived and worked in Holborn. The form is derived from a leather pouch which sags to take on the form of the tobacco within. Here the sagging shape is reconstructed in wood, even the hand-stitching round the edge has been copied. Many interesting strands here - first, the carved design may be suggesting kinkarakawa, a fascinating convergence of cultural influences. Dutch leather wall-hangings were imported into Japan when trade lines opened. These were cut up and repurposed into portable Japanese style artefacts, including tobacco pouches. ( The Walters Museum pouch above may be kinkarakwa, or designed in response). Second - tobacco itself was an imported substance, brought to Japan by the Dutch in the late 16Century. It became a craze among young men. The highly decorative tobacco pipes, belts and pouches draw on design traditions related to Samurai sword making and were possible made by the same craftsmen.
British Museum Collection
tobacco-pouch / smoking-pipe-case / sagemono / ojime
Object type tobacco-pouch
term details smoking-pipe-case sage mono ojime
Museum number 1896,0706.18.a-d
Description
Smoking-pipe-case, in two parts. Carved with dragons among clouds. Made of wood and metal. With tobacco-pouch (sagemono). Carved with shishi and peonies on front; long-tailed bird (onagadori) on back. Made of wood. Also ojime, made of metal.
Culture/period Meiji Era (?) term detailsEdo Period (?) term details
Date 1800-1896
Production place Made in: Japan term details(Asia,Japan)
Materials woodmetal
Technique carved Dimensions Length: 26.4 centimetres (with lid)Length: 11.5 centimetres (pouch)
Curator's comments Smith et al 1990
The pouch is carved with a 'shishi' and peonies on the front and a long-tailed bird ('onagadori') on the back. The pipe-case is carved with dragons among clouds.
Bibliography
Smith et al 1990 148 b bibliographic detailsEdo BM 1982 227 bibliographic details
Location Not on display
Exhibition history
Exhibited: 2006 Oct - 2015 Apr, BM Japanese Galleries, 'Japan from prehistory to the present'
Conservation See treatments
Subjects lion dog
Acquisition name Donated by: Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks
Acquisition date 1896
Department Asia
Registration number 1896,0706.18.a-d
Questions arising from definition so far
Is practical function a component of ALL Companion Objects? what about jewellery, the Dorset polar bear carving?
HAND-MADE - Why? Test hunch that the reflective thought-processes while making slowly by hand are what creates the expressive power of these objects. Look for modern examples that may be produced by technology? Do they have to be unique? Or could batch produced items that are still hand-made qualify?
How can I define this expressive quality exactly? Test whether this is a subjective, personal response to particular objects.
Look at user and viewer/contemplator as two separate issues?
Copyright Victoria & Albert Museum
Inro
Place of origin: Japan (made)
Date: ca. 1775-1850 (made)
Artist/Maker: Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques: Black, gold and brown lacquer, with pearl-shell
Credit Line: Salting Bequest
Museum number: W.629-1910
Gallery location: In Storage
Areas to research with regards to particular objects:
Re-use of materials ( Kinkarakawa… the repurposing of leather hangings is interesting, how does this fit in - just part of the analysis of particular object?)
Companion Objects with companion objects? Netsuke, ojime also the lead shot carriers attached to Pitt Rivers pouches
Dialogue with nature - through material, shape, imagery
Reaction to Western trade - tobacco and gunpowder…? A dialogue here too - 'hybrid vitality'?
Experiment with 'kinkarakawa' - wet moulding a pre gilded and stitched pouch form
Potential/borderline Companion Objects
Dorset culture/Pre-Inuit ivory carving of swimming polar bear, Quai Branly, Paris. It does not have such an obvious practical function as the examples chosen, but it certainly has the suggestive power, and the connection to nature...
These are objects carved to be held. Some possibly have some vestigial function as part of hunting, (harpooning? Do they? CHECK! ) But are really objects made to be held in the hand, turned over, pocketed or worn tied to the body and as such, do not have a flat surface where they are to be put down. Not our idea of an ornament.
(The Dorset culture (also called the Dorset Tradition) was a Paleo-Eskimo culture (500 BCE–1500 CE) that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America.
Swimming polar bear Dorset culture Quai Branly, Paris
NOT SURE THESE QUALIFY NOW
Chinese jade sleeve objects, similar to scholar’s objects, but carried - see BBC Antiques Roadshow, 3 January 2016, from Bowood House.
Shell money strings, New Caledonia.The Kanak exhibit, Quai Branly, January 2014
Leather Travelling spoon case, 1400-1500 England or Flanders. British Museum. Leather cases in which people carried about their dismantle-able knife, fork and spoon.
Travelling spoon case, 1400-1500 England or Flanders. British Museum.
Feb 5 2016
Developing the definition of the Companion Object
Bowes Museum (via Twitter) Boxes in the form of slippers
The pairing, twinning thing seems to be key to the expressive idea - starts a dialogue between shapes, and so suggests one to the viewer, wearer.
Other key thing = USE. Signs of age and wear. This adds to the expressivity of the objects, and in a museum setting, prompts speculation about how was used, worn, context of time and place it came from, imagining wearing, carrying it today.