Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Iron mokkō-shaped tsuba with cherry-blossom crests in relief on a granular ground, signed by Katsura Sōrin in his eightieth year according to the original seller.
Iron tsuba signed, according to the original seller, 桂宗隣 (Katsura Sōrin) 花押 (kaō) 寿八十歳作 (ju hachijussai saku), that is, a work by Katsura Sōrin made at the age of eighty. The seller states that the artist trained with masters of the Yokoya line and of the Katsura family, whose house he continued, and that he worked for the Arima clan of Kurume. The guard has a shallow-lobed mokkō shape and measures about 82 mm high by 77.8 mm wide, with a thickness of 5 mm at the seppadai. The photographs show a dark iron ground with a granular texture (ishime-ji), cut back in places like drifting clouds, from which a full sakura crest and a half crest emerging at the rim stand out in takabori; the rim is thickened and turned (uchikaeshi-mimi). No active rust, cracks or knocks can be seen in the photograph; there is a sekigane at the top of the central ana. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper and a custom-made paulownia (kiri) box; the paper does not appear in the photographs.
Strong points
- Signed work by Katsura Sōrin, made at the age of eighty according to the declared signature
- Sakura crests in takabori on an iron ground with ishime texture
- Restrained, elegant composition, with the half crest cut by the rim
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- The paper does not appear in the photographs; it rests only on the original seller's statement
- Only the obverse is photographed, at low resolution: the signature cannot be read in the image
- Fitted with a sekigane in the central ana
Score
60.6 / 100
- 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 8.6 of 10 Rank 46 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
- Katsura Sōrin
- Period
- Late Edo (1781–1868)
- Material
- Iron
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Signed
- Inscription
- 桂宗隣 (Katsura Sōrin) 花押 (kaō) 寿八十歳作 (ju hachijussai saku)
- Technique
- Takabori (high relief), Other technique
- Dating
- Late Edo period (19th century)