Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Unsigned round iron tsuba pierced with the Dharma wheel (rinpō) motif and a raised rim, attributed by the original seller to the Ko-Katchūshi school of the Muromachi period.
Unsigned (mumei) tsuba attributed by the original seller to the Ko-Katchūshi school, the early armourers who, before the Momoyama period, made thin iron guards with restrained openwork designs. The photographs show a round iron plate, about 9.3 cm according to the seller, pierced (sukashi) with the Dharma wheel or rinpō: a ring of eight lens-shaped segments finished with eight small heart-shaped openings pointing towards the rim. The mimi is raised and rounded, of the type the seller describes as okesoko, and a single elongated hitsu-ana opens beside the central aperture. The patina is black and brown, with natural variation and some spots of surface rust that appear stable; the rim and the bridges of the openwork are intact. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, which does not appear in the photographs. The early Muromachi dating comes from the seller, who infers it from the size, the rim and the type of piercing.
Strong points
- Openwork Dharma wheel (rinpō), a Buddhist motif of symmetrical, restrained design
- Thin iron with a raised rim, typical of early armourers' guards
- Attributed by the seller to the Ko-Katchūshi school of the Muromachi period
- Rim and openwork bridges intact
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the attribution is to a school, not to a maker
- The declared paper does not appear in the photographs
- The dating is stylistic, according to the original seller
- Some spots of surface rust on the plate
Score
50.3 / 100
- 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 1.3 of 10 Rank 286 of 330 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
- Tsuba
- School
- Ko-Katchūshi
- Period
- Muromachi or earlier (before 1573)
- Material
- Iron
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Unsigned (mumei)
- Technique
- Sukashi (openwork)
- Dating
- Early Muromachi period (14th–15th century)