NH-0896 Rank 269
Tsuba · Chōshū
Round iron tsuba of the Chōshū school, pierced and carved in relief with seasonal flowers, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Unsigned tsuba attributed by its papers to the Chōshū school, one of the major centres of iron guard production during the Edo period. The papers title it 雪華三花散透鐔 (sekka sanka chirashi sukashi tsuba): snowflakes and three scattered flowers in openwork. The photographs show a round plate of dark brown iron with a polished surface, in which flowering plum branches, chrysanthemums and irises are carved in relief and pierced in openwork (nikubori ji-sukashi). The two lozenge-shaped hitsu-ana are filled with shakudō engraved with a bundled bamboo pattern. The rim is square with little rounding. The original seller gives dimensions of 79.9 × 79.0 mm and a thickness of 4.4 mm. The patina appears even and stable, with no active rust or visible damage; normal signs of use remain around the central opening. It comes with NBTHK papers of 特別保存刀装具 (tokubetsu hozon tōsōgu), dated 2022.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers (2022)
- Openwork and relief carving of flowers of the four seasons
- Hitsu-ana filled with engraved shakudō
- Polished brown iron with a stable patina
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: attribution to the school, not to a specific master
- The papers give no date; the period is inferred from style
- Low-resolution photographs
Score breakdown
51.9/100
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 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 9.9 of 10 Rank 3 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest