NH-0948 Rank 119
Tsuba · Nishigaki Kanshirō
西垣勘四郎 (Nishigaki Kanshirō)
Brass tsuba in jūji mokkō shape with waves in sukidashibori and a triple-ridged ensō, unsigned and attributed to Nishigaki Kanshirō by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Unsigned tsuba attributed to Nishigaki Kanshirō, founder of the Nishigaki school of Higo and one of the great masters of the region in the 17th century. The plate is brass (shinchū) in jūji mokkō shape with a rounded rim. On both faces, waves and foaming crests carved in sukidashibori, their outlines engraved in line, surround a sunken triple-ridged ring that forms an ensō around the centre; the paper titles the work as a tsuba with waves and ensō. It is a design characteristic of Kanshirō, restrained yet graphically powerful. The photographs show a warm, nuanced brown patina, crisp relief with light wear from use, and pale-metal sekigane in the central ana. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, dated December 2021, describes it as 無銘 勘四郎 (mumei Kanshirō). It comes in a box inscribed by Satō Kanzan, who at the time attributed it to Hirata Hikozō, and with a further inscribed lid giving it to the first-generation Nishigaki. The original seller gives dimensions of 80.7 × 75.7 × 5.4 mm.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, attribution to Nishigaki Kanshirō
- Waves in sukidashibori and a triple-ridged ensō, a design typical of the master
- Brass with a warm, nuanced patina
- Box inscribed by Satō Kanzan
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: authorship is an attribution by the paper
- Satō Kanzan's inscription attributed it to Hirata Hikozō, an attribution now superseded by the paper
- Sekigane in the central ana
- The rim is only visible in one oblique photograph
Score breakdown
60.1/100
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 15 of 25 Unsigned, attributed by the paper to a master
- Workmanship 15 of 20 Notable work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 9 of 12 Early Edo (1615–1688)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 2 of 5 Adds: box inscribed by an expert (hakogaki)
- Price 1.1 of 10 Rank 204 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest