Q237. Fine Shakudo Nanako Tsuba Over Run with Dragons

Q237.  Very fine soft metal tsuba: shakudo nanako with gold dragons and gold, shakudo, & copper cloud forms.  And if that were'nt enough, there are gold leaf clusters spaced around the nanako rim.  7.4 x 8.1 x .4 cm on the plate.  The nakago hitsu-ana is .9 x 2.7 cm.  The nanako here is quite amazing.  Perfect vertical rows on the inner portion of the plate; they follow the curves on the section near the rim and in the trough between the 2.

There is a small cut of some sort at 7:00 on the rim in picture 1 and the same on the back side (4:00 on picture 4) but not on the edge of the rim; no idea how that happened.  Also on picture 1 at 6:00, the bottom cloud and the nanako on the rim below the cloud have been smushed.  Otherwise condition is excellent.  If you were to purchase this much highly skilled labor from a modern day plumber, you'd have to mortgage the house.  $425.