NH-0615 Rank 265
Tsuba · Myōchin
Unsigned iron tsuba pierced with bamboo stalks and leaves, attributed by the NBTHK to the Myōchin school with Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Mumei iron tsuba attributed to the Myōchin school, a lineage of armourers who during the Edo period also turned to making sword fittings. The shape is nadekaku-gata (square with rounded corners), with a rounded rim (maru-mimi) and positive openwork (ji-sukashi) depicting bamboo stalks and leaves wrapping around the central hole, the nodes of the stalk clearly marked; the paper also mentions engraved kebori details. The photographs show a dark, stable iron patina with no active rust or visible cracks, and yellow-metal sekigane at the top of the central hole. According to the original seller it measures 7.65 × 6.98 cm, 0.73 cm thick at the centre, weighs 148 g, and comes in a paulownia box. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, no. 2009924, dated 10 October 2023, describes it as 竹透鐔 (take-sukashi tsuba) 無銘 (mumei) 明珍 (Myōchin).
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2023)
- Attributed to the Myōchin school, of armour-making tradition
- Bamboo openwork in a dynamic, encircling composition
- Dark, stable iron patina
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the paper attributes it to the school, not to a specific master
- Sekigane fitted in the central hole
- The period is a stylistic estimate; the paper does not state it
Score breakdown
52/100
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 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 10 of 10 Rank 1 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest