NH-0656 Rank 263
Menuki · Kaga kinkō
A pair of solid-gold menuki depicting firefly hunting, unsigned and attributed by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper to the Kaga metalworkers.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
A pair of menuki on the theme of 蛍狩 (hotarugari), the nocturnal firefly hunt of Japanese summer evenings. Each menuki is a solid-gold bamboo cane with crisply defined nodes carrying the tools of the scene: on one, an uchiwa fan of silver and shakudō with gold ribs and reeds engraved in kebori, together with a tied bundle of sasa leaves; on the other, the net, in shakudō edged with gold, and an insect cage in shakudō with a finely cross-hatched silver mesh. According to the original seller they measure about 6.5 and 6.4 cm in length. The paper describes the work as 金無垢地 (kinmukuji, solid-gold ground), 容彫 (katachibori, sculpted in outline) and 置金色絵 (okigane iroe), and attributes it, unsigned, to the 加賀金工 (Kaga kinkō), the metalworkers of the Kaga domain. The photographs show clean gold without losses, shakudō with a stable black patina and hollow, hammered backs with intact pegs; fine wear scratches are visible on the silver of the fan. NBTHK 特別保存刀装具 (Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu) paper, issued in 2025. It comes in a kiri-wood box lined with purple silk, without inscription.
Strong points
- Solid gold (kin-muku) canes and backs
- Original composition: the firefly-hunting tools set on bamboo canes
- Gold, silver and shakudō combined, with kebori details
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2025), attributed to Kaga kinkō
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the paper attributes it to a school, not to a named maker
- Fine wear scratches on the silver of the fan
- The period is given by the original seller; the paper does not state it
Score breakdown
52.1/100
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 15 of 20 Notable work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 3 of 12 Meiji (1868–1912)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 7.1 of 10 Rank 7 of 22 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest