NH-0834 Rank 249
Tsuba · Owari
Unsigned iron tsuba of the Owari school, mokkō-shaped and pierced with a symmetrical floral crest; NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
An unsigned (mumei) tsuba attributed by its NBTHK paper to the Owari school, one of the great schools of pierced iron guards. It is mokkō-shaped (木瓜形, mokkō-gata), with a hammered iron ground, tetsu tsuchime-ji (鉄槌目地), and negative-silhouette piercing, ji-sukashi (地透). The design, titled on the paper hanamon-sukashi tsuba (花紋透鐔), forms a four-lobed floral crest around the seppa-dai, joined to the mimi by bridges with small round openings and scrolled terminals. The composition is symmetrical on both axes and the plate is modelled with gentle niku. The photographs show a dark iron with a purplish tone, lively hammer texture on the mimi and plate, and stable black patina; a metal filler (sekigane) sits at the base of the central opening. According to the original seller it measures 7.8 × 7.8 cm, 4.5 mm thick at the seppa-dai and 5.0 mm at the mimi, and weighs 122 g; the Muromachi dating also comes from the seller. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper no. 229287, dated 10 November 2010.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper (2010), attributing it to Owari
- Hammered (tsuchime) iron with a dark, warm patina
- Symmetrical pierced floral crest in mokkō form
- Front, back and rim well documented in the photographs
Points to bear in mind
- Mumei: a school attribution, not a signature
- Metal filler (sekigane) at the base of the central opening
- The Muromachi dating is stated by the original seller; the paper does not give a period
Score breakdown
53/100
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 12 of 12 Muromachi or earlier (before 1573)
- 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 of 10 Rank 137 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest