Ko-Kinkō Kōgai

Beautiful old kōgai (笄) attributed to Ko-Kinkō (古金工) with motif of autumn bundle of Nadeshiko (束撫子) flowers (Dianthus pink). Nadeshiko are one of the 7 Autumn Flowers, and symbols of elegance, love and viewed as good luck, especially when used in New Years celebrations, following  a bad year. The kōgai is made from high grade shakudō (赤銅), with a deep black patina.  The fine nanako plate (魚子地) is worn around the motif, as is typical of old kōgai.  The motif itself is a executed in high relief or takabori (高彫).  Gold is liberally applied to the flowers in the motif in uttori  technique, and the ribbon bundling the flowers is silver.  The NBTHK Hozon papers use an alternate term for uttori, in this case, kanabukuro-kise iroe (金袋着色絵), which literally means 'application of a gold bag [coloration]'. The mimikaki (耳掻) or scoop at the back is quite robust, with a sharp, high profile, and similarly covered in gold uttori.  A small window on the underside is open, exposing the black shakudo - a very pleasant touch.

Translation of the Hozon paper description follows:

束撫子図笄 (Taba Nadeshiko no zu kōgai)

無銘 古金工 (Mumei Ko-kinkō)

赤銅 魚子地 高彫 金袋着色絵 (Shakudō nanako-ji takabori kanabukuro-kise iroe)

Heisei 31^st year (2019) February 22^nd

Measurements: 21.2cm x 1.26cm x 0.45cm

Late Muromachi Period (室町後期時代), late 16th century

$1,500