NH-0723 Rank 251
Tsuba · Shōami
Unsigned iron tsuba pierced with eight linked paulownia (kiri) motifs, attributed by the NBTHK to the early-Edo Shōami school, with Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu papers.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Unsigned (mumei) iron tsuba which the NBTHK paper attributes to the 正阿弥 (Shōami) school and places at the beginning of the Edo period, 江戸初期 (Edo shoki). Of tate-marugata form, almost round (8.80 × 8.66 cm, 0.50 cm thick and 127 g according to the original seller), it is worked in ji-sukashi with eight linked paulownia (kiri) motifs radiating from the seppa-dai to the rim, the subject the paper titles 桐紋繋透鍔 (kirimon-tsunagi sukashi tsuba). The foliage carries fine kebori veining over a polished iron ground (tetsu migaki-ji); the rim is kaku-mimi ko-niku and the guard has two open hitsu-ana, one trefoil and one semicircular. The photographs show both faces and the rim: a dark, stable patina with no active red rust, small brownish spots around the central opening and a sekigane-type metal filling at its lower end. The paper is Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu, 特別保存刀装具 (Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu), no. 225823, dated 16 February 2001. The original seller states that it comes in a paulownia box; the photographs show it mounted in a wooden frame on a black ground.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, no. 225823 (2001)
- Attributed by the paper to the Shōami school, early Edo period
- Balanced openwork of eight linked kiri motifs with kebori veining
- Polished iron with a dark, stable patina and no active rust
- Both faces and the rim well photographed
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: a school attribution, not a named master
- Sekigane-type metal filling at the base of the central opening
- Small stable brownish spots around the central opening
- Dimensions and weight as given by the original seller
Score breakdown
52.9/100
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 10 of 20 Good work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 9 of 12 Early Edo (1615–1688)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 6.9 of 10 Rank 71 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest