Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Unsigned shakudō kozuka with a nanako ground and an arabesque grapevine in high relief, dotted with gold and silver, attributed to the Ko-Mino school.
Unsigned kozuka attributed by the original seller to the Ko-Mino school, with a declared NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper. The subject is a grapevine, probably wild, whose clusters, leaves and tendrils intertwine in an almost exotic arabesque along a recessed panel. The ground is shakudō worked in nanako; the motif, in high relief, is set onto that ground as suemon (applied relief), and the leaves and ground are enlivened with small inlaid dots of gold and silver (tsuyu-zōgan). The reverse is plain polished shakudō. According to the original seller, the piece was originally a kōgai whose panel was reused to make this kozuka (kōgai-naoshi), leaving some working marks around the outline. The photographs show a deep, even black patina, with no rust or knocks and only light rubbing on the high points. Declared dimensions: 9.88 × 1.47 × 0.69 cm. The seller dates it to the late Muromachi period, perhaps already Momoyama, on the basis of design and carving; the conversion would belong to the Edo period.
Strong points
- Ko-Mino school, with a declared NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper
- Arabesque grapevine in high relief on a shakudō nanako ground
- Inlaid dots of gold and silver (tsuyu-zōgan)
- Deep, well-preserved black shakudō patina
Points to bear in mind
- Kōgai converted into a kozuka (kōgai-naoshi), with working marks around the outline according to the original seller
- The relief is applied (suemon) rather than carved from the ground, and the nanako is uneven in places
- The paper does not appear in the photographs; the attribution rests on the seller's declaration
- Dating by style: the present kozuka body would be later than the panel
Score
55.6 / 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 6.6 of 10 Rank 37 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
- Shakudō, Gold, 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)