NH-0812 Rank 305
Tsuba · Tetsugendō school
Pierced iron tsuba with the three friends of winter —pine, bamboo and plum— highlighted in gold, attributed by the NBTHK to the Tetsugendō school, with Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Unsigned tsuba of slightly upright round shape, in iron with relief carving and a pierced ground. It depicts the theme 歳寒三友 (saikan sanyū), the “three friends of winter”: pine, bamboo and flowering plum, filling the whole field around a plain seppa-dai. The plum blossoms and buds, the lichen on the trunk and numerous dots are picked out with gold inlay. The NBTHK paper describes it as 鉄地 (tetsuji), 肉彫地透 (nikubori ji-sukashi) and 象嵌色絵 (zōgan iroe), with a 角耳小肉 (kaku-mimi ko-niku) rim, and attributes it to the 鉄元堂派 (Tetsugendō-ha), an 18th-century Kyoto workshop renowned for its mastery of iron. The photographs show a dark, even patina with no active rust or knocks, well-preserved gold and two copper sekigane in the central opening. According to the original seller it measures 82.4 × 78.85 mm, is 5.05 mm thick at the seppa-dai, weighs 104 g and comes with a paulownia box. Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper no. 2009434, dated 4 April 2023.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2023) attributing it to the Tetsugendō school
- Classic theme of the three friends of winter: pine, bamboo and plum
- Iron with relief carving and elaborate piercing across the whole field
- Gold inlay on blossoms, buds and trunk, well preserved
- Front, back and oblique views well photographed
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: a school attribution on the paper, not a signed work
- Two copper sekigane in the central opening, usual for a tsuba that has been mounted
- The period is inferred from style and the school's activity; the paper does not date it
Score breakdown
50/100
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 15 of 20 Notable work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 5 of 12 Late Edo (1781–1868)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 3 of 10 Rank 160 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest