This is a rare tosogu piece, likely menuki, signed by Iwamoto Kanri from the famous Iwamoto Konkan school. It features an impeccably carved clam motif with fine metalwork techniques creating shading. The piece is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate.
NihontoWatchBETAmei · Iwamoto Konkan · Edo
Iwamoto School
Edo
Signed
Tokuho (NBTHK)
Machibori · Edo
11 pieces on the market now
The Iwamoto school was a house of Edo machibori (町彫) metalworkers, founded in the early eighteenth century by Iwamoto Chūbei, a pupil of the Yokoya school, and continuing through eight generations of headmasters. As the NBTHK setsumei state repeatedly, "the Iwamoto line was originally of the Yokoya tradition," and the school's history turns on a succession crisis within that lineage: when the fifth-generation master Ryōkan died young, his junior fellow-disciple succeeded as sixth head of the Iwamoto house. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Konkan昆寛 | — | 51 |
| Kanri寛利 | 1670 | 3 |
| Masakatsu政克 (Masamoto | — | 0 |
| Soei宗栄 | — | 0 |
| Ikkan一寛 | — | 0 |
A Hozon-certified fitting of notably superior craftsmanship and condition, often with signature or workmanship of high reference 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 siteThis is a rare tosogu piece, likely menuki, signed by Iwamoto Kanri from the famous Iwamoto Konkan school. It features an impeccably carved clam motif with fine metalwork techniques creating shading. The piece is accompanied by an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate.
NihontoWatchBETAmei · Iwamoto Konkan · Edo
Iwamoto School
Edo
Signed
Tokuho (NBTHK)
Machibori · Edo
11 pieces on the market now
The Iwamoto school was a house of Edo machibori (町彫) metalworkers, founded in the early eighteenth century by Iwamoto Chūbei, a pupil of the Yokoya school, and continuing through eight generations of headmasters. As the NBTHK setsumei state repeatedly, "the Iwamoto line was originally of the Yokoya tradition," and the school's history turns on a succession crisis within that lineage: when the fifth-generation master Ryōkan died young, his junior fellow-disciple succeeded as sixth head of the Iwamoto house. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Konkan昆寛 | — | 51 |
| Kanri寛利 | 1670 | 3 |
| Masakatsu政克 (Masamoto | — | 0 |
| Soei宗栄 | — | 0 |
| Ikkan一寛 | — | 0 |
A Hozon-certified fitting of notably superior craftsmanship and condition, often with signature or workmanship of high reference 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 site
