NH-0817 Rank 192
Tsuba · Namitoshi
並寿 (Namitoshi)
Pierced iron tsuba with the tai no tai motif, signed 江府住 並壽 (Kōfu-jū Namitoshi), with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Tatemarugata iron tsuba, signed on the seppa-dai of the front face: 江府住 (Kōfu-jū, "resident of Edo") on the right and 並壽 (Namitoshi) on the left. The subject is the tai no tai, the pectoral-fin bone of the sea bream whose outline resembles a tiny fish and which was kept as a good-luck charm in the Edo period. Two such bones, a large one at the top with a pierced eye and a small one below, are joined to the round rim by slender curving spines, worked in nikubori jisukashi (relief carving with the ground pierced away). The rim is kaku-mimi ko-niku, squared and only slightly rounded. The original seller gives 68.5 × 63.6 mm, 5.0 mm thickness at the seppa-dai and 57 g, and mentions a paulownia box. The photographs show a dark brown, stable iron patina, with a few spots of superficial reddish rust on the edge and in the recesses, and a fine line across the large bone that looks like a forging seam. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, no. 2009433, dated 4 April 2023, accepts the signature.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2023) accepting the signature
- Signed 江府住 並壽 (Kōfu-jū Namitoshi)
- Uncommon subject: the tai no tai, an Edo-period good-luck charm
- Iron in nikubori jisukashi with a free, organic design
Points to bear in mind
- A few spots of superficial reddish rust on the edge and in the recesses
- A fine line across the large bone, probably a forging seam, which the photographs cannot entirely rule out as a crack
- The paper does not state the period; it is inferred from the signature and the style
Score breakdown
56.8/100
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 19 of 25 Genuine signature of a known maker or school
- Workmanship 10 of 20 Good 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 4.8 of 10 Rank 119 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest