This kokatchushi tsuba is composed of thin, well folded and hammered iron.  The tsuba is rimless and shows no taper from seppadai to rim.  It is not lacquered.  Very fine, faint vertical yasurime are still visible on the obverse side especially in the area of the seppadai.  Interestingly, as is reasonably common for the period, it is slightly wider than tall.

The greatest feature of this tsuba is the exquisite sukashi.  The two motifs represented is a Gorintou, or 5 tier grave-marker in the shape of a pagoda, and an overlapping circle mon.  It is believed that the Gorintou was first adopted in the mid-Heian period by the esoteric Buddhist sects of Shingon 真言 and Tendai 天台.  The Gorintou symbolized the Buddha and his teachings, the five directions of space (four cardinal directions and the zenith), the five major episodes in the life of the Historical Buddha, the five Buddha of the current cycle, the five elements, and a host of other groupings of five objects or ideas.

Note that the sukashi motifs are angled to the nakago ana by about 3°, giving the sukashi a subtle dynamism.   If the motifs were cut perfectly vertical the design be more rigid, structured and lose this important dynamic quality.  This is a first-rate example of a ko katchushi and a rare acquisition opportunity.

Mid Muromachi Period (15th c)

8.4 x 8.6 x 0.2 cm

Ex Hatori Collection. published in:

Tsuba no Bunkashi, Hatori Jiichiro. 1969.  Page 52, item 27.

Kokusai Tosogu Kai - 5th International Convention and Exhibition, 2009

 

$6000