Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Unsigned iron tsuba attributed to the Kanayama school, pierced with four gourds in mokkō form; Muromachi period according to the original seller.
Unsigned (mumei) iron tsuba which the original seller attributes to the Kanayama school and dates to the Muromachi period. The guard is of mokkō shape and worked in positive openwork, jisukashi: the motif, described by the seller as four gourds (hisago) facing the four directions, is built from large and small circles joined to the rim and the seppa-dai, in a symmetrical, restrained and highly legible composition. The seller links the gourd to Zen imagery. According to the listing it measures 68.2 × 68.9 mm, with a thickness of 5 mm at the seppa-dai. The photographs show dark iron with a granular surface and a rounded rim bearing hammer marks and emerging tekkotsu; no active rust or cracks can be seen. The seppa-dai carries chisel marks, yose-tagane, beside the central opening, a trace of its fitting during its working life. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu paper attributing the piece to Kanayama, and a kiri box; neither the paper nor the box appears in the photographs.
Strong points
- Four-gourd jisukashi openwork, symmetrical and very clear
- Dark iron with hammered rim and tekkotsu visible in the photographs
- Attributed to the Kanayama school, Muromachi period according to the original seller
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper declared by the original seller
Points to bear in mind
- Unsigned: a school attribution, not a signed work
- The declared paper does not appear in the photographs
- Fitting chisel marks (yose-tagane) on the seppa-dai
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 184 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
- School
- Kanayama
- Period
- Muromachi or earlier (before 1573)
- Material
- Iron
- Paper
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Tōsōgu
- Signature
- Unsigned (mumei)
- Technique
- Sukashi (openwork)
- Dating
- Muromachi period