NH-0897 Rank 154
Tsuba · Ko-Kinkō
Round yamagane tsuba with wheel-shaped openwork and a broad rim decorated with cherry blossoms and arabesques, attributed to Ko-Kinkō with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Unsigned (mumei) tsuba attributed by the NBTHK paper to the Ko-Kinkō school, the generic name for metalworkers active before or during the Muromachi period who did not sign their work. Round in shape and made of yamagane (unrefined copper), it features eight-spoked wheel openwork (kuruma-sukashi) around an oval seppa-dai, with a single hitsu-ana. The broad rim carries a continuous pattern of cherry blossoms and arabesques (karakusa), brought out by yakite-kusarashi, a controlled chemical corrosion that gives the design tonal relief. The original seller gives 80.4 × 80.0 mm, 3.8 mm thick at the rim and 2.9 mm at the seppa-dai. The photographs show a dark, old and even patina on both faces, with no active rust or cracks, the decoration still legible all round, and a copper sekigane in the central opening. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, dated April 2022, describes it as a wheel openwork tsuba with cherry blossoms and arabesques.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper (2022)
- Ko-Kinkō work of the Muromachi period
- Yamagane with yakite-kusarashi decoration
- Cleanly composed eight-spoked wheel openwork
Points to bear in mind
- Generic school attribution, no maker or signature
- Copper sekigane in the central opening
- Small photographs; the rim edge is not shown
Score breakdown
58.6/100
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 9.6 of 10 Rank 9 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest