NH-0694 Rank 346
Menuki · Gotō
A pair of solid gold menuki depicting two running shishi, carved in katabori, unsigned and attributed to the Gotō school by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
An unsigned pair of menuki attributed by the NBTHK to the Gotō school, the lineage that set the official taste in sword fittings for the samurai class throughout the Edo period. Each piece depicts a shishi, the guardian lion, in full stride, head turned, with mane and tail in tight curls and the body scattered with cloud-shaped spots. The paper describes the material as solid gold (kin-muku) and the technique as katabori, sculpture in the round: the photographs show high, deep relief, curls chased with fine parallel lines, well-defined claws and toes, and neatly finished hollow backs with their pegs intact. As to condition, the photographs show crisp chiselling without knocks, light wear on the highest points of the relief, and dark deposits inside the hollow backs. The original seller gives widths of 3.24 cm and 3.26 cm and states that the pair is kept in a paulownia wood box. The pair is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, no. 2011246, dated 20 December 2024, attributing it to Gotō.
Strong points
- Solid gold (kin-muku), according to the paper
- Sculpted in the round (katabori): two running shishi with fine chiselling
- Attributed to the Gotō school on the paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper from 2024
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the paper attributes it to the Gotō school in general, not to a specific master
- The paper does not specify the period; only the Edo period is given, by the original seller
- Dark deposits inside the hollow backs
Score breakdown
47.5/100
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 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 0.5 of 10 Rank 21 of 22 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest