Kantei

NH-0495 Rank 143

Tsuba · Masachika (Bushū Itō)

正親 (Masachika)

Pierced iron tsuba with bundles of brushwood and cherry blossoms, gold details and a decorated rim, signed by Masachika of the Bushū Itō school, with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.

TsubaLate Edo (1781–1868)Late Edo period (second half of the 18th century)NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

Iron tsuba of tate-marugata shape (round, slightly elongated vertically), signed 武州住正親 (Bushū-jū Masachika) on either side of the central ana. According to the original seller, Masachika, whose family name was Kitani, was a tsubakō of the Bushū Itō school who worked in Edo in the second half of the 18th century. The design shows bundles of fine brushwood (shibatsuka) tied with rope and set in a ring, with branches, leaves and cherry blossoms. The photographs show very dense nikubori ji-sukashi: every twig and knot is carved in relief, with openings of different sizes that lighten the iron. The petals and stamens carry gold inlay. Both hitsu-ana are closed with dark metal plates on a nanako ground, shakudō according to the seller, and the whole rim carries geometric patterns in gold (asa-no-ha, sayagata, shippō). The front and back arrange the design differently. The iron patina is dark, even and stable, with no active rust, and the gold is practically intact. According to the original seller it measures 75.6 × 70.8 mm, with a seppa-dai 5.3 mm thick, and weighs 128.5 g. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, no. 2009429 of 2023, accepts the signature.

Strong points

  • Signed by Masachika and accepted by the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper
  • Very dense relief piercing of brushwood bundles and cherry blossoms
  • Rim fully inlaid in gold with geometric patterns
  • Hitsu-ana closed with nanako-ground plates
  • Dark, stable iron patina with the gold intact

Points to bear in mind

  • The maker's biography and the metal of the hitsu-ana plates come from the original seller
  • Small chisel marks from fitting at the bottom of the central ana

Score breakdown

59.1/100

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.

  1. Maker 19 of 25 Genuine signature of a known maker or school
  2. Workmanship 15 of 20 Notable work
  3. Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
  4. Period 5 of 12 Late Edo (1781–1868)
  5. Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
  6. Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
  7. Price 2.1 of 10 Rank 181 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest