NH-0950 Rank 99
Tsuba · Tsunemiki (Chōshū)
職幹 (Tsunemiki)
Round iron tsuba signed by Tsunemiki of Hagi, with a figural landscape in relief and gold inlay on both faces. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Marugata iron tsuba signed on the obverse 長州萩住職幹作 (Chōshū Hagi-jū Tsunemiki saku): the work of Tsunemiki, a tsubakō of Hagi in Nagato province, whom the original seller places in the Itoga family in the late Edo period. The Chōshū school, one of the great centres of tsuba production alongside Mito, worked mainly in iron, in relief and in openwork. The photographs show a landscape with figures on both faces, described by the original seller as court figures in a landscape: mountain ridges, pines and reeds on the obverse, with a figure beside a rock, and on the reverse two figures at the foot of a peak. The carving is sukidashibori, with gold inlay (zōgan) on the ridges, on round discs and on the grasses, and the rim is uchikaeshi-mimi. The iron keeps a dark brown, stable patina with no visible red rust, and the gold is almost entirely intact. The original seller gives 8.27 × 8.24 cm, 0.47 cm at the seppa-dai and 152 g. It comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, visible in the photographs, and a wooden box with a cushion.
Strong points
- Full signature with place of work: Chōshū Hagi-jū Tsunemiki saku
- Figural landscape carved on both faces
- Well-preserved gold inlay (zōgan)
- Dark, stable iron patina with no active rust
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper
Points to bear in mind
- The photographs of the paper are small: the number, date and attribution line cannot be read
- The dating comes from the original seller and from the style; the piece is not dated
- The rim is only visible in low-resolution oblique views
Score breakdown
61.1/100
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 19 of 25 Genuine signature of a known maker or school
- 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 9.1 of 10 Rank 22 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest