Futatokoro — a kozuka and kōgai conceived as a pair — on the theme of shells and seaweed in a flowing stream. Both pieces have a shakudō face plate with fine, even nanako, from which shells of several kinds, among them a scallop, rise in shakudō takabori, with sprigs of seaweed in gold iroe and the current drawn in kebori and low relief. The photographs show gold back plates (ura-ita) on both pieces. The kozuka is engraved with a waka poem and the signature 時年八十翁 法眼一乗作 (jinen hachijū-ō Hōgen Ichijō saku), "made by Hōgen Ichijō, an old man of eighty"; the kōgai is signed 後藤法眼作 (Gotō Hōgen saku). Gotō Ichijō (1791–1876), of the Hachirōbei-ke branch of the Gotō family, received the title of hōgen in 1863 and is one of the great metal artists of the late Edo and early Meiji periods; from the age inscribed, the kozuka dates to around 1870. The photographs show good condition: crisp nanako, reliefs and gold intact, and only fine handling scratches on the gold backs. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper and a paulownia box; neither the paper nor the box appears in the photographs.