Tsuba · Ko-Kinkō

Description

An unsigned tsuba attributed by its paper to the 古金工 (Ko-Kinkō) school, the early soft-metal tradition that preceded the great Edo-period workshops. It is chrysanthemum-shaped (kikka-gata) with a scalloped outline, worked in shakudō over a fine, even nanako ground. Both faces are covered with akikusa, the grasses and flowers of autumn: five-petalled blossoms, chrysanthemums, ears of grain, leaves and tendrils carved in relief, with the raised rim reserved from the plate itself. Tiny inlaid gold dots are scattered across the ground like drops of dew. The paper describes it as 赤銅魚子地 (shakudō nanako-ji), 鋤出彫 (sukidashi-bori) and 象嵌色絵 (zōgan iroe). The photographs show a deep, even black patina, crisp nanako and relief that keeps its detail; the seppa-dai is polished by use and the central opening has irregular edges with sekigane fillings, as is usual for an old tsuba mounted more than once. The NBTHK awarded it Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu status on 14 July 2023 (no. 2009631). The original seller places it in the Momoyama period and supplies it in a paulownia box; by the seller's measurements it is 7.56 × 7.10 cm, 0.48 cm thick and weighs 112 g.