Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Mokkō-shaped yamagane tsuba with gilt iroe vine leaves and grape clusters and copper hira-zōgan tendrils, attributed to the Ko-Kinkō school of the Momoyama period.
Unsigned (mumei) mokkō-shaped tsuba with two hitsu-ana, devoted to the grapevine theme, budō-zu (葡萄図). According to the original seller, the ground is yamagane, a dark unrefined copper, and the piece is attributed to the Ko-Kinkō (古金工) school, the metalworkers who preceded the great Edo schools. The photographs show, on both faces, gold-coloured vine leaves with kebori veining, grape clusters in small pale dots and undulating reddish copper tendrils in hira-zōgan, encircling the seppa-dai in a light, balanced composition. The seller links it to the taste later developed by Umetada Myōju in his flat-inlay tsuba. Declared dimensions: 85.5 × 78.8 mm, 3.3 mm thick at the seppa-dai. In the photographs the gilding is almost entirely preserved, with no active rust or visible knocks; the central opening carries sekigane. The seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper attributing it to Ko-Kinkō, which does not appear in the photographs, and a fitted paulownia box.
Strong points
- Ko-Kinkō school of the Momoyama period, according to the original seller
- Grapevine theme in gilt iroe with kebori and copper hira-zōgan tendrils
- Gilding of the leaves well preserved on both faces
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the seller
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: a school attribution, not to a specific maker
- The paper does not appear in the photographs
- Sekigane in the central opening
Score
56.9 / 100
- Maker 9 of 25 Attributed to a school only
- Workmanship 10 of 20 Good work
- Condition 14 of 18 Good condition
- Period 11 of 12 Momoyama (1573–1615)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 8.9 of 10 Rank 38 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-Kinkō
- Period
- Momoyama (1573–1615)
- Material
- Copper, Gold, Silver
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Unsigned (mumei)
- Technique
- Kebori (line engraving), Iroe (coloured inlay), Zōgan (inlay)
- Dating
- Momoyama period (late 16th century)