Kantei

NH-0716 Rank 355

Tsuba · Kyō-Shōami

Round iron tsuba pierced with the character 乃 (no) and a flowering plum tree with gold buds, attributed by the NBTHK to the Kyō-Shōami school, with Tokubetsu Hozon papers.

TsubaLate Edo (1781–1868)Late Edo period (late 18th–19th century)NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

Unsigned tsuba attributed to the Kyō-Shōami school, the Kyoto branch of the Shōami lineage. The paper titles it 乃字梅樹透鍔 (no-ji baiju sukashi tsuba): the stroke of the character 乃 (no) merges with the branches of a flowering plum tree, all worked in positive openwork on a round iron plate. The blossoms carry engraved kebori details and the buds are inlaid in gold (zōgan), giving a bright contrast against the dark iron. The rim is squared with slight rounding (kaku-mimi ko-niku). According to the original seller it measures 8.16 × 8.20 cm, 0.50 cm thick, weighs 103 g and comes in a paulownia box. The photographs show a dark, stable iron patina with no active rust, the gold intact and the rim free of knocks; the central ana carries copper sekigane and both hitsu-ana appear closed with a dark filling. The NBTHK paper, Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu no. 2011020, dated 26 September 2024, attributes it to the Kyō-Shōami school.

Strong points

  • NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2024)
  • Moji-sukashi design: the character 乃 (no) entwined with a flowering plum
  • Gold-inlaid buds, well preserved
  • Dark, stable iron patina with no active rust
  • Comes in a paulownia box

Points to bear in mind

  • Unsigned: a school attribution, not an individual maker
  • Copper sekigane in the central ana
  • Both hitsu-ana are closed with a dark filling
  • The period is estimated from style; the paper does not state it

Score breakdown

46.6/100

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.

  1. Maker 9 of 25 Attributed to a school only
  2. Workmanship 10 of 20 Good work
  3. Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
  4. Period 5 of 12 Late Edo (1781–1868)
  5. Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
  6. Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
  7. Price 4.6 of 10 Rank 124 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest