{"id":1870,"date":"2012-11-01T20:20:18","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T20:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=1870"},"modified":"2012-11-01T20:25:43","modified_gmt":"2012-11-01T20:25:43","slug":"floating-treasures-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=1870","title":{"rendered":"Floating Treasures Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the distant past I made a bunch of pendants I called “Floating Treasures.” \u00a0These were loosely based upon kagamibuta style netsuke. \u00a0Kagamibuta netsuke became popular in Japan after the wearing of swords was banned, and the metal artisans who spent their lives creating the wonderful sword furniture we admire today became unemployed, and turned their skills to decorative items. \u00a0Most had a highly decorated metal lid on a non-metal bowl, with a central cord hole (himotoshi).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\nHere are a few images of a kagamibuta netsuke of mine, with a porcelain lid, yew bowl with ivory cord hole liner, about an inch and a half in diameter.<\/p>\n

I’ve always thought kagamibuta would make an excellent pendants, but the awkward cord mounting system precluded their use. \u00a0I set out to blend the best aspects of kagamibuta netsuke\u00a0and make a new style of pendants, and called them “Floating Treasures” since the decorated part seems to “float” in the center of the bowl.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nAbove are a few of my earlier “Floating Treasure” pendants.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nAbove is an image of the components of one of my floating treasures, (shown from the left) 1. the bowl, 2. a small spacer and 3. the “floating” plate (shown here upside down). \u00a0These were originally made of wood, fossil ivory, antler, and maybe a tiny bit of metal work, but I could never figure out how the make the bowls of metal. \u00a0Recently, I broke that code.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nAbove is my first “Floating Treasure” pendant using all metal in it’s construction. \u00a0The bowl is copper, and the “floating” part is engraved Sterling silver.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nThe above three images are an inlaid dragonfly I’m currently working on, with a silver bowl, and a steel “floating” plate, with inlaid components of copper and .999 fine silver. \u00a0Two of the dragonfly wings are inlaid, with two left to go.<\/p>\n

The difficulty in making the bowl wasn’t the initial cup forming portion, but the ability to bend the edges of the bowl over and back into the center of the bowl, and I finally figured that part out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the distant past I made a bunch of pendants I called “Floating Treasures.” \u00a0These were loosely based upon kagamibuta style netsuke. \u00a0Kagamibuta netsuke became popular in Japan after the wearing of swords was banned, and the metal artisans who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[23,30,28,31],"tags":[9,3,7,17],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6qLAy-ua","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1990,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=1990","url_meta":{"origin":1870,"position":0},"title":"Making a Kagamibuta Netsuke Bowl Part 1","date":"May 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I was approached by a client to turn a replacement bowl for a lovely kagamibuta netsuke that had a cracked original ivory bowl. \u00a0In my life with netsuke, I've found that cracked ivory, especially kagamibuta netsuke bowls, is very common. \u00a0It's my view that ALL ivory will eventually crack, sometimes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Netsuke"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Kagamibuta_Bowl_13.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2050,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2050","url_meta":{"origin":1870,"position":1},"title":"Making a Kagamibuta Netsuke Bowl Part 4","date":"May 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Now it's time to color our antler kagamibuta bowl. \u00a0I'll be soaking the antler first in a hot, but relatively weak solution of potassium permanganate (KMnO4), then polishing to remove much of the color. \u00a0I'll repeat this a number of times until I'm satisfied with the color, and, in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Netsuke"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Kagamibuta_Bowl_86.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2005,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2005","url_meta":{"origin":1870,"position":2},"title":"Making a Kagamibuta Netsuke Bowl Part 2","date":"May 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Above, I've drilled the proper sized hole through the antler cylinder. \u00a0The cord that connects to the lid will eventually pass through here. \u00a0Incidentally, using a metal-cutting lathe for these parts of the bowl-turning process really helps with accuracy and speed. \u00a0As you might surmise, a lathe that can cut\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Netsuke"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Kagamibuta_Bowl_25.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2023,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2023","url_meta":{"origin":1870,"position":3},"title":"Making a Kagamibuta Netsuke Bowl Part 3","date":"May 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Above, I've installed the hand turning tool rest on the cross slide of the lathe, and begun establishing the outer curve of the bowl with small hand turning tools. \u00a0I repeatedly STOP the lathe and hold the original ivory bowl nearby, and sight down the edge to make sure I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Netsuke"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Kagamibuta_Bowl_44.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":819,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=819","url_meta":{"origin":1870,"position":4},"title":"Burl Noggin part 2","date":"January 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, since I made the fancy Gentleman's Noggin, I now need a high-end chunky button to go along with it. \u00a0These chunky buttons were designed to allow someone to hang the noggin from their belt, but still be handy to take it off for use. \u00a0It struck me that this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Antler_Crown_NW_Frog_1-300x210.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2090,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2090","url_meta":{"origin":1870,"position":5},"title":"Knapped Steel Petroglyph Knife","date":"May 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Another of my signature \"Knapped Steel\" knives. \u00a0I had so much fun playing with the antler and potassium permanganate from you kagamibuta adventure, I decided to make a knife handle. Above is the knife I \"carved\" prior to heat treatment. \u00a0I use a scan like this to design (on paper)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Engraved Knife"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Mammoth_Stone_Knife_18.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1870"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1870"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1882,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1870\/revisions\/1882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}