Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Iron tsuba signed 江川重信 (Egawa Shigenobu), with a dragon amid clouds and waves in high relief and gold and silver inlays, late Edo period, with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers.
Iron tsuba of tatemaru-gata shape signed 江川重信 (Egawa Shigenobu), a metalworker active in the late Edo period. The subject is a dragon rising from the waves among clouds: its head dominates the upper part of the front, its body coils around the seppa-dai and continues over the rim onto the back, where clouds, waves and a section of the body are laid out with more open ground. The carving is sukidashi takabori, with each scale worked individually, whiskers and mane in fine kebori lines and the waves in heavy relief; the eyes are inlaid in gold and the fangs in silver (象嵌色絵, zōgan iroe). According to the original seller it measures 92.6 × 88.7 mm, with a seppa-dai 4.7 mm thick, and weighs 213 g. The photographs show a stable dark brown iron with a few small surface spots on the back, crisp relief and complete inlays. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper of 2023 accepts the signature; a second paper from the Nihon Tōsōgu Kenkyūkai places it in the late Edo period and describes it as a tsuba of great power. It comes with a paulownia box.
Strong points
- Signed 江川重信 (Egawa Shigenobu), signature accepted by the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper
- Dragon amid clouds and waves in sukidashi takabori running from front to back
- Eyes inlaid in gold and fangs in silver
- Large piece: 92.6 × 88.7 mm and 213 g, according to the original seller
- Second paper from the Nihon Tōsōgu Kenkyūkai dating it to the late Edo period
Points to bear in mind
- Small reddish-brown surface spots on the back, visible in the photographs
- The listing does not mention a hakogaki; the paulownia box is not recorded as inscribed
Score
59.5 / 100
- Maker 19 of 25 Genuine signature of a known maker or school
- Workmanship 15 of 20 Notable 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 2.5 of 10 Rank 249 of 330 by price among pieces of its type, from the most affordable to the dearest
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.
Details
- Type
- Tsuba
- Maker
- Egawa Shigenobu
- Period
- Late Edo (1781–1868)
- Material
- Iron, Gold, Silver
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Signed
- Inscription
- 江川重信 (Egawa Shigenobu)
- Technique
- Takabori (high relief), Zōgan (inlay), Iroe (coloured inlay), Kebori (line engraving)
- Dating
- Late Edo period (18th–19th century)
- Paper number
- 2009446
- Paper date
- 4 April 2023
- Attribution on the paper
- 銘 江川重信 (mei Egawa Shigenobu)