NH-0998 Rank 255
Tsuba · Owari
Unsigned iron tsuba of the Owari school, pierced with suhama and karigane motifs within a ring; with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
An unsigned tsuba attributed by its paper to the Owari school, one of the great centres of pierced iron work. The paper titles it 洲浜雁金輪透鍔 (suhama karigane wa-sukashi tsuba): a guard of tatemaru-gata shape with a rounded rim (marumimi), pierced in ji-sukashi with two suhama — the stylised outline of a sandbar — above and below, two karigane (wild geese in heraldic form) at the sides, and arcs that close the design into a ring. The strict symmetry and the absence of figures are characteristic of the school. The photographs show iron with a dark, stable patina and a hammered (tsuchime) texture, with no active rust; reddish traces are visible in the corners of the central opening, along with small irregularities on the rim and the side spokes. The original seller gives 8.3 × 7.9 cm, 0.6 cm thickness at the seppa-dai and 100 g. The piece comes in its wooden box with cushion, and the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu certificate appears in the photographs.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper visible in the photographs
- Symmetrical Owari openwork: suhama, karigane and ring
- Iron with tsuchime texture and a dark, stable patina
- Both faces and the box are photographed
Points to bear in mind
- Attribution to a school, not to a maker: the piece is unsigned
- The paper's number and date cannot be read in the small photographs
- The period is inferred from style; the paper does not legibly state it
- Reddish traces in the corners of the central opening
Score breakdown
52.6/100
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 9 of 12 Early Edo (1615–1688)
- 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 79 of 228 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest