NH-0482 Rank 165
Menuki · Gotō Teijō
後藤程乗 (Gotō Teijō)
Pair of gold menuki showing Hotei and karako in a boat, unsigned katabori work attributed by the NBTHK to Gotō Teijō, with Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu papers.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Pair of gold menuki on the theme 布袋唐子図 (Hotei karako-zu): Hotei, the pot-bellied god of good fortune, reclines in a leaf-shaped boat while a group of karako (Chinese children) play around him, row and haul it along. The pieces are unsigned; the NBTHK paper attributes them to Gotō Teijō, ninth head of the main Gotō line according to the original vendor, active in the 17th century between Kyoto and Edo. The photographs show carving in the round, 容彫 (katabori), with finely modelled laughing faces, garments covered in kebori-engraved patterns and the hull of the boat decorated with floral scrolls. The hollowed reverse follows the 陰陽根 (in'yō-ne) system: one piece with a peg, the other with a hole. The surfaces look sound, with no knocks or breaks; there is light wear on the high points and warm ageing tones in the recesses and on the reverse. They measure about 6.8 and 6.9 cm in length; the original vendor states 26 g in total. They come with a Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper issued in 1996 and a plain paulownia box without inscription.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (1996) attributing the pair to Gotō Teijō
- Solid gold according to the paper and the original vendor
- Katabori carving with fine kebori detail
- Lively composition of Hotei and karako spread across the pair
- Main Gotō line, 17th century
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the authorship is an attribution by the paper
- The original vendor dates the pair to mid-Edo, although Teijō's lifetime falls in the 17th century
- Paulownia box without hakogaki
Score breakdown
58.4/100
The score shares out 100 points: Maker 25 · Workmanship 20 · Condition 18 · Period 12 · Paper 10 · Extras 5 · Price 10. It is computed from the record, not from an opinion. Maker, workmanship, condition and period are judged from the photographs and the paper; price is compared only with fittings of the same type.
- Maker 15 of 25 Unsigned, attributed by the paper to a master
- Workmanship 15 of 20 Notable work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 9 of 12 Early Edo (1615–1688)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 1.4 of 10 Rank 19 of 22 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest