Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Round iron tsuba with openwork chrysanthemums and leaves in relief, signed by Tomonao of the Chōshū school; Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller.
Iron marugata tsuba of the Chōshū school, signed on the seppa-dai 長州萩住河治六郎右衛門尉 (Chōshū Hagi-jū Kawaji Rokurōemon-no-jō) on the obverse and 友直作 (Tomonao saku) on the reverse. According to the original seller, Tomonao was a son of the master Tomomichi, a highly skilled craftsman who founded his own branch of the family and contributed to the development of the Chōshū tsubakō. The design, kikka-sukashi, sets three open chrysanthemums and two sprays of leaves within a plain rim: the petals are pierced with clean outlines, the flower centres carry fine punched dots, and the leaves, modelled in relief (nikubori), show their veins in line engraving (kebori). The photographs show an even, dark grey iron with no visible rust, crisp edges to the openwork and an intact rim. It measures 84 × 83 mm, 5.2 mm thick at the seppa-dai, according to the original seller, who dates it to the middle of the Edo period and offers it in a fitted paulownia box. The seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper, which does not appear in the photographs.
Strong points
- Full signature on both faces of the seppa-dai, with province, place of residence and title
- Openwork chrysanthemums with precise outlines and relief-carved leaves with engraved veins
- Dark, even iron with no rust visible in the photographs
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- The declared Tokubetsu Hozon paper does not appear in the photographs
- The original seller's English text says shakudō; the photographs and the seller's Japanese text show iron
- The period comes from the original seller; the piece is not dated
- Only two photographs, obverse and reverse, with no view of the rim edge
Score
69.1 / 100
- Maker 19 of 25 Genuine signature of a known maker or school
- Workmanship 15 of 20 Notable work
- Condition 18 of 18 Excellent condition
- Period 7 of 12 Mid-Edo (1688–1781)
- Paper 4 of 10 NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Extras 0 of 5 No complete set by the same maker and no inscribed box
- Price 6.1 of 10 Rank 137 of 346 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
- Tomonao
- Period
- Mid-Edo (1688–1781)
- Material
- Iron
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Signed
- School
- Chōshū
- Inscription
- 長州萩住河治六郎右衛門尉 友直作 (Chōshū Hagi-jū Kawaji Rokurōemon-no-jō Tomonao saku)
- Technique
- Sukashi (openwork), Kebori (line engraving), Other technique
- Dating
- Mid-Edo period (18th century)