Leaderboard

Dear James. It is not entirely unusual to have gold menuki, what you do next is of course up to you. I would love to see a picture of the entire koshirae but the really nice wrap is going to need redoing and you need to find someone who can do it justice. While this is happening you could remove the menuki and replace them with similar shakudo examples. For me the decision would hang on whether the koshirae was original or not, I note that it does not seem to have seppa, do you have a feeling that this has been put together or perhaps the tsuba has been swopped out? The tsuka appears to be original and attractive so my perspective would be re wrap just as it is including these menuki. Dealers and collectors have always been inclined to swap fittings, more money to be made selling the boxed fittings and putting together a koshirae. Personally I would regard that as heresy and would want to retain anything original about the sword. If the seppa are indeed missing then you might have to change the Namban tsuba for something thinner, add seppa, and that would change the dynamic somewhat. Looking forward to a picture of the whole thing and what others have to say. All the best.

Thank you Arnaud! Your results are exactly as expected! Higher temperature would have produced still more scale but not a "melted" surface.

Hello and thanks for the info. I’ve attached some additional pictures. Geraint the seppa and TSUBA were definitely cobbled together. The remaining all seem to be a set and overall a nice package. They appear to have a copper base maybe judging by some color coming through. The wire inlay has a nice gold color.

Once again… THANK YOU!

@GRC: thank you for your appraisal , Glen, but all tekkozu on my tsuba make me think it is pre-edo [easy for me as I have it in hands] @Spartancrest: as usuel, Dale, tou bring materials for further studies. Thank you so much.

James, the MENUKI may be pure gold or gold-covered. You will have problems seeing that mounted, so - as Geraint stated - when the TSUKA-ITO is being redone, you can have a look at the backside of the MENUKI.

rare but they do exist. The photo shows a pair. Solid gold with nice “gold rust”, mid Edo.

Could you show a couple of photos of the blade, showing blade tip, and hamon (temper pattern)? How about fittings?

I received my tsuba a few minutes ago as stated: Scheduled delivery date - Wednesday, 13/05/2026. Updated yesterday to 14/05/26 Very well packed with the papers and box The tsuba was wrapped in tissue inside the box with a pillow (normally a no no) but in this case there was no damage 8 pages (what a pain for the auction house) with an interesting comment: This artworks are exempt from Reciprocal Tariffs' under chapter 99 Secondary Classification 9903.01.32, as informational materials. These goods are ART antiques and more than 100 years old. HS code: 9705100090 I was surprised that I didn't have to pay import duty A very nice Kanayama tsuba, good condition with a lovely patina, with papers, just so pleased I wish the best to other buyers from this auction and I hope you are as happy as me with your purchase

Yes! Sorry, I should have included that, 但 = tadashi, 也 = nari, 半 = han.

Oh baby, I'm SO up for a ride on the TARDIS. Bring back Prince and let us party like it is 1999. Alright- enough thread hijack here. My apologies. Others please help the OP at your discretion.