NH-0530 Rank 241
Tsuba · Ko-Kinkō
Round unsigned shakudō tsuba with a silver ring carved with waves and pierced gilt spokes; NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper attributing it to the Ko-Kinkō school.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
An unsigned marugata tsuba which the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper attributes to the Ko-Kinkō school and titles 四方扇透鐔 (shihō ōgi sukashi tsuba), 'openwork tsuba with fans in four directions'. A shakudō plate of deep black patina is framed by a twisted-rope rim, nawame dote-mimi, carved in relief. Within it, a silver ring finely engraved with waves and swirls encloses a crown of pierced spokes, gilt spokes alternating with open slits, crossed by four diagonal bars; the two side openings have cloud-shaped outlines. Two Japanese publications reproduced in the photographs (the book 文化の中の刀装具 (Bunka no naka no tōsōgu), plate 3, and the September 2000 issue of the newspaper 刀剣春秋 (Tōken Shunjū)) read the design as a water wheel among waves, place it in Kyoto in the Momoyama period and attribute it to Ko-Shōami; the paper keeps to Ko-Kinkō. The photographs show both faces and the rim: original patina, gilding intact, only minor handling marks on the seppa-dai. According to the original seller it measures 7.74 × 7.70 cm, 0.57 cm thick, and weighs 150 g; it comes with a round maki-e lacquer box decorated with bamboo and a stream.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2013), attributed to the Ko-Kinkō school
- Published in the book Bunka no naka no tōsōgu and in Tōken Shunjū (2000)
- Fine shakudō with a carved silver ring and gilt iroe spokes
- Precisely carved twisted-rope rim (nawame dote-mimi)
- Round maki-e lacquer box
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the paper gives a school attribution, not a maker
- The literature attributes it to Ko-Shōami; the NBTHK paper does not adopt that attribution
- Minor handling marks on the seppa-dai, slightly irregular edges to the central ana and a stable greenish tone inside the piercings
Score breakdown
53.9/100
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 9 of 25 Attributed to a school only
- Workmanship 15 of 20 Notable work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 11 of 12 Momoyama (1573–1615)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 0.9 of 10 Rank 208 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest