Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Unsigned yamagane kozuka with an old pine in takabori on a nanako ground, its needles highlighted with silver dots, attributed to the Ko-Mino school of the late Muromachi period.
An unsigned kozuka which the original seller attributes to the Ko-Mino school, one of the oldest currents of Japanese decorative sword fittings, and dates to the late Muromachi period. The subject is the old pine (oimatsu): the branches wind like a tendril along the plate, and the needles, set in small clusters, are tipped with inlaid drops of silver (gin tsuyu zōgan). The composition has no single focal motif and reads almost like a repeating komon pattern. The plate is yamagane, an unrefined copper of dark brown tone, with a fine nanako ground and carving in takabori with a sukidashi feel and rounded volumes, as the edge views show. According to the original seller it is a sode-kozuka adapted from a kōgai. The photographs show a plain reverse, a dark and stable patina, handling wear on the nanako and every silver inlay still in place. It measures 9.91 × 1.32 cm. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper and a paulownia box, neither of which appears in the photographs.
Strong points
- Ko-Mino school, late Muromachi, according to the original seller
- Old pine in takabori on a yamagane nanako ground
- Inlaid silver dew drops (gin tsuyu zōgan) all intact
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: a school attribution, not a named maker
- The paper does not appear in the photographs
- Visible handling wear on the nanako ground
- Sode-kozuka adapted from a kōgai, according to the original seller
Score
56.1 / 100
- 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 7.1 of 10 Rank 32 of 107 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest
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.
Details
- Type
- Kozuka
- School
- Ko-Mino
- Period
- Muromachi or earlier (before 1573)
- Material
- Copper, Silver
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Unsigned (mumei)
- Technique
- Nanako (fish-roe ground), Takabori (high relief), Zōgan (inlay)
- Dating
- Late Muromachi period (16th century)