Kantei

NH-0808 Rank 101

Fuchi-kashira · Saitō Masaoki

鳳鳴堂 斎藤正興 (Saitō Masaoki)

Polished shibuichi fuchi-kashira depicting the Gojōgen scene, signed Hōmeidō Saitō Masaoki with his kaō, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.

Fuchi-kashiraMid-Edo (1688–1781)Mid-Edo period (18th century)NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

Fuchi-kashira signed on the tenjō of the fuchi "Hōmeidō Saitō Masaoki", followed by his kaō. Saitō Masaoki, who also signed Yoshioki, was a pupil of Ichinomiya Nagatsune and worked in Kyōto. The subject is Gojōgen, the Wuzhang Plains of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where the strategist Zhuge Liang died: on the kashira he sits in his carriage beneath a large parasol, with the horse team and an attendant; the fuchi unfolds the procession around it, with a mounted general led by the bridle, a standard-bearer, a herald with a horn, a pine tree and a distant camp. The ground is polished shibuichi, and the figures are worked in sukidashi takabori with inlays of gold, shakudō, silver and copper (zōgan and iroe); the photographs show very fine kebori in the horses' coats, the beards and the robes. The visible condition is good: an even dark patina, gilding intact on the reliefs, no knocks or cracks; only a few light scratches on the tenjō and the ground. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper (no. 2009527, 4 April 2023) accepts the signature and describes the piece as polished shibuichi with high relief, zōgan and iroe. According to the original seller, the fuchi measures 38.5 mm, the kashira 34.1 mm, and the pair weighs 51.4 g; it comes with an uninscribed paulownia box.

Strong points

  • Full signature with kaō, accepted by the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper
  • Narrative Gojōgen scene spread across fuchi and kashira
  • Sukidashi takabori with gold, shakudō, silver and copper on polished shibuichi
  • Very fine kebori on horses, beards and robes
  • Work by a pupil of Ichinomiya Nagatsune active in Kyōto

Points to bear in mind

  • The dating comes from the original seller; the paper does not date the piece.
  • Fine, light scratches on the tenjō and on the ground of the fuchi.
  • One of the photographs shows another kashira on the same theme (with a dragon) that is not part of this piece.

Score breakdown

60.9/100

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.

  1. Maker 19 of 25 Genuine signature of a known maker or school
  2. Workmanship 15 of 20 Notable work
  3. Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
  4. Period 7 of 12 Mid-Edo (1688–1781)
  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 1.9 of 10 Rank 22 of 27 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest