Modern made Hosono Sozaemon Masamori kozuka?

[Yumso]

Hello everyone,

 

https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/t1221335764

I'm deeply interested at this kozuka signed 細野惣左衛門政守(Hosono Sozaemon Masamori), and would like to get advice of it.

That design just hold my heart so I was all ready to GO... until some suspicion arose in my mind.
 

 

Although Masamori's mei had various shapes this kozuka's mei makes me unsure if it is really his work or modern made fake. Especially 惣 and kao here looks kinda... wrong?

 

Also kozuka overall looks very new. Considering Masamori's year of activity his genuine works should be about 300 years old yet I'm not convinced with this one.
 

Is this red flag? It would be great if you could share your opinions about this.

 

[Brian]

If it's considered genuine, and the seller seems to imply that it is...you know the end price is going to be 10-20X what the current price is, right?
Condition doesn't worry me, pieces at that leave were often not made to be mounted or used, they were high class even back then.
I haven't seen modern fakes of this sort of work, but that doesn't imply that they don't exist. Someone could ask the seller if they guarantee it would paper.

[Jesta]

One of my concerns about pieces like this is that it doesn’t have papers. If it is genuine, then I would be surprised that the owner has not had it papered yet. On the other hand, it is a really beautiful piece, which also caught my eye…  

[Yumso]

Yes, I'm aware this would go over 100,000 yen and that's why I'm being cautious.

Looking at this piece my mind ran like:
The seller seems to have been selling very nice tosogu with papers or some other kind of certification at least recently, and for this kozuka they even show the page about Hosono Sozaemon Masamori so I assume the seller knows what they are selling... but why not paper it and then sell?
Though it could be just because they don't have time to paper it... Or is this the auction's pitfall of "Too good to be true?"
But... but... but... 

Everything is unsure but one thing I think is: Yes, it is beautiful.

[Matsunoki]

Can you show a couple of high res images?

(we cannot access yahoo auctions in uk)

[Brian]

I would really be asking the seller if they guarantee it would pass shinsa. If they say yes, you are (more) safe. It's a gorgeous piece even if gimei.

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

Gimei

buy it if you like it

Don’t expect to find treasures in the rough

 

[Spartancrest]

53 minutes ago, Matsunoki said:

(we cannot access yahoo auctions in uk)

Colin can you access Jauce in the UK?  https://www.jauce.com/auction/t1221335764  Most things on Yahoo can be found on Jauce - just substitute the last set of numbers from Yahoo [in this case t1221335764]

[Yumso]

50 minutes ago, Matsunoki said:

Can you show a couple of high res images?

(we cannot access yahoo auctions in uk)

Not sure if this is the best I can get but here

 

43 minutes ago, Brian said:

I would really be asking the seller if they guarantee it would pass shinsa. If they say yes, you are (more) safe. It's a gorgeous piece even if gimei.

Thanks, I'll try finding way to leave a comment.

 

12 minutes ago, Infinite_Wisdumb said:

Gimei

buy it if you like it

Don’t expect to find treasures in the rough

 

Is it the mei that is suspicious?

[Matsunoki]

Thanks….yes found it on Dale’s link to Jauce👍. (Never been on that site before!)

they do not mention the alloy/metal that it is made from and the first thing that struck me was that the faceplate looked like it had been overcleaned at some point. It is a totally different colour to the back (that in itself may not be problem as many kozuka are made from different alloy plates) but imo it is shibuichi judging from the backplate colour. Also the copper colour in the design looks weak…..but that could be a trick of the light. 
It is an amusing composition but not technically challenging.

i don’t think it’s a modern fake

I will leave the Mei to those that have far greater expertise than me.

maybe ask seller what it is made from?

his Haynes entry…..

 

[Bazza]

IMHO its a fake.  The figures are too stick-like and the mei is wobbly and all over the place.  FYI attached is a mei on a kozuka I have.  It is identical to my eye to a second kozuka I have with the same theme of people.

 

BaZZa.

 

 

Here is the kozuka - I apologise for the poor shot.  I've been 'gunner' upgrade the hasty photos...

 

 

And here is a mei that was on a kozuka on the internet some time ago:

 

 

Here is that kozuka:

 

And here is the text for the kozuka immediately above:

Hosono Sozaemon Masamori (細野惣左衛門政守) worked in Kyoto in the early Edo period between Genroku and Kyoho (1688 – 1736) . He used Kebori and Katakiribori mixed with Hira Zogan and often filled the whole plate with his motives of landscapes and rural life. For his time he was quite progressive as he not only depicted sceneries which had been famous from history or favoured by the noble class but chose to show the life of the working class people. Thus we often see workers or farmers going after their daily job in his work.

This Kozuka depicts the eight views of Omi province (today’s Shiga Prefecture) also called the eight views of Biwa lake as all the views concentrate around the southern side of the Biwa lake. The theme was derived from the Chinese ‘Eight Views of Xiaoxiang’ (11th century) and came to Japan in the 14th century when it was used in poetry by Konoe Masaie a prince of Hikone. Later it became a subject for artists like Suzuki Harunobe or Utagawa Hiroshige.

I do apologise for the brevity of this post, but I have been late to put my two kozuka into a substantive article.

 

Regards,

BaZZa

(aka Barry 'Gunnadoo' Thomas)