Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Pierced iron tsuba with twelve family crests arranged in a ring, unsigned and attributed by the paper to the Hayashi school of Higo; NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper.
Mumei tsuba attributed by its NBTHK paper to the Hayashi school, a lineage of Higo ironsmiths tracing its origin to Hayashi Matashichi and shaped by the taste of Hosokawa Tadaoki (Sansai). The paper describes it as 武鑑透鍔 (bukan-sukashi tsuba), an openwork of family crests of the kind recorded in the heraldic directories of the Edo period. An oval central plate of 鉄磨地 (tetsu migaki-ji, polished iron ground) is joined by two bridges to a ring of twelve pierced roundels, each holding a different mon: chrysanthemum, mitsudomoe, manji, three scales, kikyō flowers and others. The paper gives the shape as 十二木瓜形 (jūni mokkō-gata) and the rim as 角耳小肉 (kaku-mimi ko-niku), square and only slightly rounded. The photographs show both faces and the edge: iron with a dark, even patina, crisp piercing and a well-balanced composition despite its complexity. According to the original seller it measures 7.06 × 6.87 cm, weighs 87 g and comes in a paulownia (kiri) box. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper no. 2012136, dated 24 March 2026.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper
- Openwork of twelve family crests arranged in a ring
- Polished iron ground with a dark, even patina
- Hayashi school, one of the classic Higo lineages
- Comes in a paulownia (kiri) box
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the paper attributes it to the school, not to an individual master
- Brownish residue or light surface rust around the edges of the central opening
- The period is not stated on the paper; it is estimated from style
- One of the crests is a manji, a traditional Buddhist emblem
Score
46.3 / 100
- Maker 9 of 25 Attributed to a school only
- 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 4.3 of 10 Rank 190 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
- School
- 林 (Hayashi)
- Period
- Late Edo (1781–1868)
- Material
- Iron
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Unsigned (mumei)
- Technique
- Sukashi (openwork), Migaki (burnished)
- Dating
- Late Edo period (estimated from style)
- Paper number
- 2012136
- Paper date
- 24 March 2026
- Attribution on the paper
- 林 (Hayashi)