Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Round forged-iron tsuba, unsigned, attributed to the Ko-Katchūshi school, with a mokkō openwork, four small rings and a dote-mimi rim; Muromachi period according to the original seller.
Unsigned (mumei) tsuba attributed by the original seller to the Ko-Katchūshi school, the early armourers who forged sturdily built iron guards. It is round, about 88.2 mm across, with a thickness of 3.4 mm at the seppa-dai according to the seller. The photographs show a highly restrained design: the centre is reduced to a four-lobed mokkō plate, holding the central opening and a single hitsu-ana, joined to the rim by four small pierced rings at the cardinal points. The rim is a thickened dote-mimi which, according to the seller, was made by wrapping the plate in a separately forged iron band, and it keeps the marks of the hammer. In the only photograph, of the front, no active rust, cracks or knocks are visible. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper and a kiri box; neither appears in the photographs.
Strong points
- Forged iron with a dote-mimi rim and visible hammer marks
- Restrained openwork of a four-lobed mokkō and four small rings
- Attributed to the Ko-Katchūshi school, Muromachi period according to the seller
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: the attribution is to a school, not to a maker
- The paper and the box do not appear in the photographs
- Only one photograph of the piece; the back and the edge are not shown
- The dating rests on the seller's statement and on style
Score
53.7 / 100
- Maker 9 of 25 Attributed to a school only
- Workmanship 10 of 20 Good work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 12 of 12 Muromachi or earlier (before 1573)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 4.7 of 10 Rank 174 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
- Ko-Katchūshi
- Period
- Muromachi or earlier (before 1573)
- Material
- Iron
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Unsigned (mumei)
- Technique
- Sukashi (openwork)
- Dating
- Muromachi period (15th–16th century)