Complete Higo Aikuchi Tosogu Set with Bashin - Gold and Silver Higo-Zogan

Tcat · 2025-08-05T17:35:26Z

For Sale - $1,800 OBO - A stunning and complete set of aikuchi fittings from the late edo period produced by a mainline Higo school. Ready for mounting or to be enjoyed as part of a display. Made from iron and decorated finely with gold karakusa and silver Kuyō-mon using the Higo-zōgan technique.

The Kuyō-mon (sometimes known as Hosokawa-mon) represents the nine celestial bodies and was famously adopted by the Hosokawa family as their main crest. Filled “Kuyō” are associated with the manifest and material, while ringed Kuyō are said to represent the spiritual, or metaphysical. A striking arrangement of eighteen Hosokawa mon in silver, with nine filled Kuyō and nine ringed Kuyō, employ a symbolic harmony perhaps intended to embody a cosmic completeness or symbolic duality appealing to both aesthetic sensibilities and esoteric cosmology.

The 7-piece set includes:

• Fuchi

• Kashira

• Koiguchi

• Kurikata

• Kaeshizuno

• Kojiri

• Bashin (馬針), tempered and in old polish.

The fittings show minor wear consistent with age but remain in excellent condition. The absence of NBTHK papers is offset by the clear quality of work, which speaks to a mainline Higo lineage, possibly Nishigaki or Hirayama school, executed in the late Edo period when such koshirae were prized by elite retainers and favored by the Hosokawa daimyō. Guaranteed to pass hozon with attribution to a Higo school. Additional photos available on request. Where successful sales are referred or closed on NMB, 5% of the total sale will be donated to Brian.