Japanese Bronze Yatate

This single-piece bronze yatate, or brush and ink holder, is curved like a bow. The brush is missing, but when in place would have completed the bow shape. This creative shape (most yatates are pipe-shaped) indicates that this piece likely dates to the late Edo period (1600-1868), when several restrictions against items of luxury were in place; these restrictions did not apply to yatates, thus wealthy merchants used these accessories to show off status and style.

In this case, the curved brush holder forms the body of a dragon or serpent; the brush would be inserted and removed through the creature’s gaping mouth (visible upon opening the ink holder). The sumi-tsubo (ink pot) sits at the end of the yatate towards the dragon’s head. Inside the sumi-tsubo would be a cotton wad, darkened with dried ink, that was used to hold the ink and prevent it from spilling. At the other end of the yatate is the tail of the dragon with decorative engraving and a ring used to fasten it to one’s obi (sash).

The name yatate (literally “arrow stand”) developed from the early samurai practice of keeping ink stones in arrow stands. The technique of using ink-saturated cotton to dip one’s calligraphy brush in ink was developed during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) as a means of reducing spilling or dripping; the cotton could be enclosed in a sumi-tsubo to make it portable.