NH-0578 Rank 219
Tsuba · Yoshihiro (Higo)
良弘 (Yoshihiro)
Openwork iron tsuba with cherry blossoms and gold nunome mist, signed by Yoshihiro of Higo and dated An'ei 9 (1780), made to commission; NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Iron tsuba of the Higo school, signed by Yoshihiro, a tsubakō working in Kumamoto in the second half of the 18th century. The inscription, split between the two faces, reads "Kikuchi Waifu Sō-shi no tame kore o tsukuru" and "An'ei kyū ne nigatsu kichijitsu, Yoshihiro": made at Kikuchi Waifu for a member of the Sō family, on an auspicious day of the second month of An'ei 9 (1780). The original seller links the commission to the Sō, daimyō of Tsushima. The plate is chrysanthemum-shaped (kikka-gata) with a rounded rim (maru-mimi); the polished iron (migaki-ji) is pierced with cherry blossoms, scrolls and four inome, the petal veins cut in kebori, and the ground carries bands of mist in gold nunome-zōgan. The photographs show dark, sound iron without active rust, the gold well preserved, and small copper sekigane in the central opening. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, dated December 2002, transcribes the signature and date and accepts them. The photographed pages show the piece published in the reference work Higo Kinkō Taikan. Dimensions per the original seller: 7.3 × 7.0 × 0.4 cm.
Strong points
- Signature and date (1780) accepted by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper
- Commissioned work, naming its recipient in the inscription
- Gold nunome mist well preserved on dark, sound iron
- Published in Higo Kinkō Taikan
Points to bear in mind
- Yoshihiro is a secondary Higo tsubakō, not one of the great masters of the school
- The link to the Sō daimyō of Tsushima is stated by the original seller, not by the paper
- Small copper sekigane in the central opening
- The rim is not photographed in close-up
Score breakdown
55.4/100
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 19 of 25 Genuine signature of a known maker or school
- Workmanship 10 of 20 Good work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 7 of 12 Mid-Edo (1688–1781)
- 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 197 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest