NH-0696 Rank 147
Kozuka · Gotō Mitsumori
後藤光守 (Gotō Mitsumori)
Solid-silver kozuka signed by Gotō Mitsumori with his kaō, showing Mount Fuji with a gold summit and young pines in kebori. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Kozuka signed 後藤光守 (Gotō Mitsumori) with his kaō (monogram), an artist of the Gotō school whom the original seller places in Musashi province in the late Edo period. The paper titles it 富嶽若松図小柄 (Fugaku wakamatsu-zu kozuka): Mount Fuji with young pines. The composition is deliberately restrained: the slope of Fuji is drawn with a single long line across the plate, the summit is rendered as a gold inlay (zōgan), and at the opposite end a cluster of young pines is engraved in fine kebori. The polished solid-silver (gin muku) ground shows radial hatching that gives the mountain volume. The plain reverse, with diagonal brushing, carries the engraved signature. The photographs show dark spots of natural tarnish on the silver, heavier on the front, and fine wear scratches, with no visible dents or breaks; the gold of the summit is intact. It comes with a wooden box bearing a signed and sealed inscription (hakogaki) from the Shōwa era. Dimensions according to the original seller: 9.91 × 1.49 cm. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, no. 2011272, dated April 2025, accepting the signature.
Strong points
- Signature of Gotō Mitsumori with kaō, accepted by the paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2025)
- Solid silver (gin muku) with Fuji summit in gold
- Restrained late Gotō composition with pines in kebori
- Box with signed and sealed hakogaki
Points to bear in mind
- Dark spots of natural tarnish on the silver, mainly on the front
- The dating comes from the original seller and the style; the paper does not state it
- The writer of the hakogaki has not been securely identified
Score breakdown
59/100
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 19 of 25 Genuine signature of a known maker or school
- 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 2 of 5 Adds: box inscribed by an expert (hakogaki)
- Price 5 of 10 Rank 30 of 59 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest