NH-0652 Rank 248
Kozuka · Kaga Gotō
Shakudō kozuka with a nanako ground and a saddled horse at full gallop in gilt high relief, attributed to the Kaga Gotō school by a 2004 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Unsigned kozuka attributed by the NBTHK to the Kaga Gotō school, the branch of the Gotō family that worked for the lords of Kaga. The subject is a single saddled horse at full gallop, mane bristling and tail flying. The figure, an applied high-relief ornament, combines gold on the legs, saddle cloth and bridle with shakudō and silvery-toned areas, while mane and tail are chiselled with fine lines. It stands on a shakudō ground of small, even nanako framed by gold rims. The back plate is gold with a brushed texture. The photographs show crisp nanako, gilding intact on the high points and only a slight area of wear at one end of the front. The original seller gives dimensions of 9.5 × 1.5 cm, places it in the mid-Edo period and supplies it in an uninscribed paulownia box. NBTHK paper no. 227095, dated 22 December 2004, classes it as 特別保存刀装具 (Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu) and describes it as 無銘 加賀後藤 (mumei Kaga Gotō), in 赤銅魚子地金紋 (shakudō nanako-ji kinmon).
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper (2004), attributed to Kaga Gotō
- Galloping horse in gold and shakudō high relief, full of movement
- Fine, even nanako ground with gold rims
- Gold back plate
- Gilding and relief well preserved
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the attribution is to the school, not to a specific master
- The paper does not date the piece; the period is the one given by the original seller
- Slight wear or discolouration of the nanako at one end of the front
- Small marks on the gold back plate
Score breakdown
53/100
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 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 9 of 10 Rank 7 of 59 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest