NH-0562 Rank 253
Tsuba · Ko-Tōshō
Round unsigned iron tsuba of the Ko-Tōshō school, with a pierced hanakaku crest and no hitsu-ana; NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Mumei tsuba attributed by its NBTHK paper to the Ko-Tōshō school, the iron guards traditionally associated with blade smiths and regarded as the origin of the iron tsuba. It is round (marugata), made from a thin iron plate with a hammered surface and a brownish-black patina of organic texture. Its only decoration is a negative piercing (in-sukashi) of the hanakaku crest, a four-lobed floral motif, beside the central opening. It remains mubitsu, that is, without the openings for kozuka and kōgai that were often added to such pieces later. The rim is square and gently rounded (kaku-mimi ko-niku). According to the original seller it measures 8.0 × 8.0 cm and is 2.9 mm thick. The photographs show a stable patina, with no active red rust or cracks, and minor fitting marks beside the central opening. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper no. 2005778, dated August 2019, describes it as a pierced tsuba with the hanakaku crest, unsigned, Ko-Tōshō. It comes in a plain wooden box without inscription.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2019)
- Ko-Tōshō school, among the earliest iron tsuba
- Remains mubitsu, with no later hitsu-ana
- Restrained piercing of the four-lobed hanakaku crest
- Stable iron patina without active rust
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: a school attribution, not a named maker
- The dating rests on the attribution and style; the paper gives no date of making
- No photographs of the rim in profile
Score breakdown
52.8/100
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 10 of 20 Good work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 12 of 12 Muromachi or earlier (before 1573)
- 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 142 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest