NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis kozuka is crafted from shakudō, a traditional Japanese alloy of copper and gold, known for its deep blue-black patina. It features high-relief carving (高彫, takabori) and is adorned with gold and silver inlay (色絵, iroe), creating a richly detailed and elegant decorative effect. This kozuka depicts two herons (鷺, sagi) living by the water’s edge. The heron, a graceful water bird, has long been regarded as a symbol of noble character and high-ranking officials, as it stands clean and dignified even in the muddy waters of rivers and rice fields. In classical Chinese art as well, the heron is often portrayed as an auspicious creature. For example, a painting featuring a heron, lotus, and drunken hibiscus is believed to symbolize a life of happiness, wealth, and prosperity. According to the NBTHK certificate, this kozuka is attributed to the Ōtsuki school(大月派). Alongside the Nagatsune and Okamoto Tekken-dō schools, the Ōtsuki school was one of the leading groups of Kyoto metalworkers during the Edo period. Founded by Ōtsuki Mitsuoki, the school produced many distinguished artisans, including Hideoki, Atsuoki, Hidekuni, and Gassan. Authentication Paper They authenticated the Kozuka on December 22nd in the 23rd year of Heisei (2011). They appraised it as Hozon Tousougu, the Kozuka worth preserving for Japanese society.
Certificate reading — 無銘（大月派）
NihontoWatchOffered by Samurai Museum
21 on the market
Otsuki School
Edo
Unsigned
Hozon (NBTHK)
Machibori · Yamashiro
21 pieces on the market now
The Otsuki school is a distinguished lineage of Kyoto kinko (metalworkers) whose production spans from the mid-Edo period through the Bakumatsu era, consistently identified by the NBTHK as one of the most eminent metalworking lineages of the capital. " The school also acknowledged its debt to earlier Kyoto masters, with the NBTHK detecting in Mitsuoki's modeling the influence of Umetada Myoju and in his pictorial conception the influence of Kaneie. The collective technical vocabulary of the Otsuki school centers on takabori iroe (high-relief carving with polychrome metalwork), deployed with a fundamentally pictorial intelligence that distinguishes it from most other metalworking lineages. Across multiple generations, Otsuki artists worked in katakiribori (single-chisel engraving), hira-zogan (flat inlay), sukidashi-bori (relief modeling from the plate), and fine kebori (hairline engraving), often combining several techniques within a single composition. A defining characteristic is the school's command of varied ground materials -- iron, shakudo, shibuichi, oborogin, brass, and even solid gold -- finished as migaki-ji (polished), nanako-ji (fish-roe stipple), arashi-ji, or ishime-ji, each selected to serve the pictorial demands of the subject. " In subsequent generations, Atsuoki demonstrated daring compositional arrangements while maintaining an unmistakably Kyoto refinement, and Hidekuni achieved effects of "keen sharpness and driving momentum" through masterful deployment of irogane alloys.
Across the school's output, compositions characteristically make effective use of generous open space to achieve atmospheric depth, narrative pull, and a lyric quality that the NBTHK repeatedly identifies as distinctively Otsuki. The Otsuki school's legacy rests on its fusion of painter's sensibility with metalworker's discipline, producing works of a character at once bold and subtly graceful. " Atsuoki's commissions for both the Tokugawa shogunate and the imperial household -- including fittings for the wearing sword of the fourteenth shogun Tokugawa Iemochi and for Emperor Komei -- attest to the esteem in which the school was held at the highest levels of patronage. Hidekuni's later works exhibit "an airy and unconventional spirit" emblematic of Mitsuoki's own late manner, confirming that the school's aesthetic evolution was one of deepening refinement rather than mere technical inheritance. The NBTHK consistently positions the Otsuki school among Kyoto's most eminent metalworking traditions, and its members' works -- from Motohiro's ambitious narrative programs treating the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido to Kaizan Oki's compositions of "elevated tone and dignity" -- constitute an essential chapter in the history of late Edo-period chokinshi artistry. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Tokuoki篤興 | 1813-1891 | 21 |
| Mitsuoki光興 | 1766-1834 | 13 |
| Hidekuni秀国 | 1670 | 8 |
| Oki/Masaoki/Minayama Oki応起 | 1670 | 7 |
| Harutsura春貫 | — | 6 |
Certifies a genuine fitting worth preserving: a correct signature, or, if unsigned, an identifiable era and school, with recognized artistic and craft value.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
NBTHK official siteReturns/exchanges limited to defects caused by shipping (except willful misconduct or gross negligence by the company); customers must contact within 72 hours of receiving the product.
¥160,000