Below are three shakudo (赤銅)ô-kozuka. The top ô-kozuka is from the kinko school. It is a deep and rich shakudo plate that has a gold border on the obverse. Also on the obverse are a male and a female dragon carved in very high relief. They are made of shakudo with gold and silver highlights. This is an extremely large kozuka measuring 5 inches by 1 inch.
The middle ô-kozuka is a beautifully carved rich and black shakudo plate showing an especially high gold content in the shakudo. The carving on the obverse is that of a bijin (beautiful woman) in full kimono walking with her attendant following her holding an umbrella to protect her from the sun. The reverse has some rocks and grasses carved near the bottom. This kozuka is by Mitsuoki of the Ôtsuki school 月光興. Mitsuoki was the fourth master of the Ôtsuki school.
The bottom ô-kozuka is a kinko kozuka that I have had for many years. I has a beautiful silver crescent moon reflected in the deep black shakudo waves.
The final kozuka is one of normal size to be used as a comparison piece.
