Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
A signed kozuka and a pair of shakudō menuki with gold peony branches by Gotō Mitsutaka, 13th head of the main Gotō line, with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
A futatokoromono made up of a kozuka and a pair of menuki sharing the same theme: peony branches with the blossoms in gold. According to the original seller, Gotō Mitsutaka was the 13th head of the main Gotō line and led the family for some forty years from 1742. The kozuka bears the engraved signature 後藤光孝 (Gotō Mitsutaka) with his kaō; the menuki are unsigned and the paper attributes them to the same master. The kozuka is of shakudō on a very even nanako ground, with the branch worked in takabori and the blossom in gold iroe; the menuki are shakudō carved in the round, katachibori, with the blossoms also in gold. The photographs show a deep, even black patina, crisp nanako and intact gold, with light handling wear on the back of the kozuka and the usual patina on the reverse of the menuki. The set is presented in a wooden display box. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, number 2010971, dated 26 September 2024, titles it 枝牡丹図二所物 (eda-botan-zu futatokoromono).
Strong points
- Work by Gotō Mitsutaka, head of the main Gotō line
- Kozuka signed with kaō, accepted by the paper
- Shakudō with fine nanako and gold peonies
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2024)
- Coherent set from the same workshop and on the same theme
Points to bear in mind
- The menuki are unsigned: their authorship is an attribution by the paper
- Light handling wear on the back of the kozuka
- The box is a display box without an expert's inscription
Score
76.5 / 100
- Maker 25 of 25 Genuine signature of a first-rank master, confirmed by the paper
- Workmanship 15 of 20 Notable work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 7 of 12 Mid-Edo (1688–1781)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 3 of 5 Adds: complete set by the same maker
- Price 8.5 of 10 Rank 4 of 21 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
- Futatokoro (kozuka and kōgai)
- Maker
- Gotō Mitsutaka
- Period
- Mid-Edo (1688–1781)
- Material
- Shakudō, Gold
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Signed
- School
- Gotō
- Inscription
- 後藤光孝 花押 (Gotō Mitsutaka kaō)
- Technique
- Nanako (fish-roe ground), Takabori (high relief), Iroe (coloured inlay), Kebori (line engraving), Other technique
- Dating
- Mid-Edo period (18th century)
- Paper number
- 2010971
- Paper date
- 26 September 2024
- Attribution on the paper
- 後藤光孝 (Gotō Mitsutaka)
- Extras
- complete set by the same maker