NH-0582 Rank 358
Tsuba · iron hamachidori, with kaō
Iron aori-mokkō tsuba showing plovers over the beach (hamachidori), signed with a kaō and accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Iron tsuba of aori-mokkō shape, with a hammered tsuchime ground and an uchikaeshi-mimi rim. The subject is hamachidori, plovers over the beach: small birds in flight carved in relief against the lowered ground (sukidashi-bori and takabori) and, in the lower part, shorelines and sandbars with small piercings (kosukashi) and touches of coloured inlay (zōgan iroe). One of the hitsu-ana is plugged with a metal filler, and the central opening retains its sekigane. The photographs show a dark, stable iron patina with no active rust, and light rubbing on the high points of the relief and on the rim. The piece is signed only with a kaō (monogram), with no legible maker or school name. The 2023 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper describes it as 浜千鳥図鐔 (hamachidori-zu tsuba) and accepts the signature as 銘（花押） (mei kaō). The original seller places it in the late Edo period (19th century) and declares a paulownia box with its cushion, which can be seen in the photographs.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper (2023)
- Poetic theme of plovers over the beach (hamachidori)
- Tsuchime iron with relief carving, small piercings and coloured inlay
- Kaō signature accepted by the paper
- Paulownia box with cushion
Points to bear in mind
- No identified maker or school: only a kaō
- One hitsu-ana plugged, sekigane in the central opening
- Light rubbing on the high points of the relief and on the rim
- The dating comes from the seller's statement, not from the paper
Score breakdown
45.8/100
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 3 of 25 No attribution
- 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 9.8 of 10 Rank 5 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest