Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Unsigned wari-kōgai shaped as a bamboo stem, with shakudō and shibuichi joined on a diagonal and discreet gold accents; attributed to the Unno school.
A wari-kōgai, the kōgai that separates into two halves, unsigned (mumei) and attributed to the Unno school, the Mito-lineage workshop that produced outstanding chasers in the late Edo and Meiji periods. The piece imitates a jointed bamboo stem, and its most striking feature is its construction: black shakudō and grey-brown shibuichi meet along a clean diagonal in the upper third, so that the colour changes with the metal itself. A bamboo leaf is carved in low relief over the joint, with small inlaid gold dots at the nodes and fine chisel stippling suggesting a grove. When opened, both halves show the same diagonal join on the inside. According to the original seller it is 13.94 cm long and weighs 18 g. The photographs show an even dark patina on the shakudō and light wear on the shibuichi, with no rust or damage. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper attributing it to the Unno school, and a paulownia box; neither appears in the photographs.
Strong points
- Unusual construction: shakudō and shibuichi joined on a diagonal
- Wari-kōgai that opens into two halves
- Restrained bamboo design with gold accents
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: a school attribution, not a named master
- The paper does not appear in the photographs
- Light wear and small scratches on the shibuichi
Score
45.8 / 100
- Maker 9 of 25 Attributed to a school only
- Workmanship 10 of 20 Good work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 5 of 12 Late Edo (1781–1868)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 3.8 of 10 Rank 9 of 14 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest
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.
Details
- Type
- Kōgai
- School
- Unno
- Period
- Late Edo (1781–1868)
- Material
- Shakudō, Shibuichi, Gold
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Unsigned (mumei)
- Technique
- Zōgan (inlay), Other technique
- Dating
- Late Edo period (19th century)