Geraint

Dear Peter. That scabbard certainly fits with the 1796 model sabre theory, as does the blade. Is the decoration nunome zogan on the steel scabbard or lacquer? I would agree that the seppa and fuchi are made for this blade, the seppa seem rather narrower than would be the case for a normal saya but would look right with the narrow scabbard throat for this model sword. The hidden cross is a wonderful idea but in this case I think it has more to do with same economy, the four small pieces are big enough to stick and to show under the corners of the dogane. Quite often tsuka are dressed in same which is in small sections cut to fit the tsuka with joins sometimes concealed by the ito, I suspect this is the equivalent. Like you I think this is a European sabre that has found it's way to Japan and been refitted, I don't think it is a modern put together. If only we could find out the history of it. All the best.

Dear Kenny. To answer your questions, yes to both. Also the dimensions would help. Looking forward to them. All the best.

Thank you Dirk and Jean for your thoughts on this one. In hand the repair is almost invisible, the photographs expose a lot of things that are not very prominent and hide some others. From the online images I even wondered about it being a casting seeing some of the marks around the seppa dai but it has clear evidence of forging from the inside of the nakago ana and one or two other things to confirm it as a forged plate. Thanks to all who have contributed. All the best.

Dear Piers. Thank you for your thoughts. I had assumed it to be a wheel of the law design, in fact most of the zogan on the blades is present, not showing very well because it is in silver and tarnished. It is in net form, that is discrete lines of silver crossing each other. The difference in the seppa dai was one of the issues that made me pass it up on first inspection, I can't remember coming across this before. Any ideas? All the best.

Dear Charles. Yeah! It's great when you need it but evil when you don't. Sounds like you have an interesting job. I am fairly convinced that this one had a hole cut in the seppa dai to accommodate the catch on a gunto mount. Someone has patched it subsequently, not sure they did it any favours.

You are very kind Jesse, I'm sure it doesn't qualify as that but the excitement is still there when you open the parcel. All the best.

Oh, that is a beautiful kozuka! All the best.

So! You are browsing tsuba and one catches your eye, it's got a bit of a Higo vibe. It's not much money and you are thinking of taking a shot but something about the seppa dai seems off so you can it. It pops back up at half the money and on a bit of reflection you reckon the seppa dai has seen some use but for what it costs it's worth it for a look see. You place a minimum bid, sit back and wait. Lo and behold you win. The package arrives and as you take it from the postie you can hear the tsuba rattling around inside it's box. You open the package and see that it is in a deluxe tsuba box so that's a win whatever happens to the tsuba. But the sender has sealed the box with duct tape. You manage to get the duct tape off without damaging the box And the tsuba is genuine, what's more it is better in hand than the photos. I'm sure we all know the feeling but thought you might enjoy this one. All the best.

Dear Adam. You are correct, this is a casting. Age? Do you know, I have never thought to enquire but I would guess late 19th early 20th century. All the best.

Dear John. It's a little difficult to tell from these images but my first reaction to this one is that it is a casting. What do you think? All the best.

Dear Simon. Welcome and congratulations, a nice signed, papered sword, in polish and with nice koshirae. I did find one other tsuba signed this way that looks quite similar so maybe not a false signature but that really doesn't matter in this context. Enjoy! All the best.

Glad you joined the party Ian, I think you showed me that tanto while it was being photographed. And famously Field Marshall Festing had a Tadayoshi blade custom mounted in his official sabre! All the best.

Dear Peter. One here, https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/rac-object-54908.html All the best.

For what it's worth I think this is actually shinogi zukuri blade with an o kissaki. When I enlarge the auction house images I think I can see a yokote. Have to agree with Jean, this would look really good if in proper polish. Let us know how this goes, Bjorn. All the best.

Dear Ted. The mei reads Bungo no kuni Yukihira saku. I also am hoping that the dark patches are a trick of the light in your photograph. As Brian said this is genuine Japanese sword, whether it is a true signature is another matter. Looking forward to some more photographs please. All the best.

Dear Inna. I think Bruce is spot on, the fittings are low end 20th century but Japanese, not quite so sure about the tsuba. The same on the tsuka and the wrap look brand new so perhaps this was mounted as someone's iaito? All the best.

Dear Jeremiah. That's some lovely reading there! The only snag is that once you have trained your ye you then have to find pieces that meet your newly refined criteria and a source of funds to go with it. Oh, and apparently drool marks on the pages devalues the books. All the best.

Dear Chris. Just for comparisons sake see here, Add to the clear differences the placement of the mei, even allowing for the fact that yours is hirazukuri the mei meanders down the middle of the nakago, one would expect it to be aligned with the mune. So you have a nice Shinshinto tanto in attractive issaku koshirae, what's not to like? Enjoy it for what it is, I certainly would. All the best.

Dear Nicholas. A papered wakizashi here to compare. https://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2020/20394paper-1.jpg All the best.

Dear Jonas. In the UK we have a saying, " Thanks, but no thanks!" All the best.

Forgive me if I have got this wrong but I have always understood these to be called haikan, not so? All the best.

Dear Dale. Paulownia? Didn't we have another piece just recently with the same question? All the best.

Dear Richard. First to say that I, too, really like the tsuba. The fact that it came back as gimei is a disappointment, most of all to you but I think all of us love it when a story comes good. I know that it's easy to speak after the event but if nothing else your post made me really look at the tsuba and particularly at the seppa dai. The handling of the nanako lacks a certain confidence here, notably around the hitsu ana. I have been doing a bit of digging and the first thing to say is that the images in my reference library are not as good as yours in many cases. However in the case of a really good tsuba everything about it is top quality, technically and artistically. I did find a lot of tsuba where the seppa dai has been defined by a cut border and the nanako runs up to that border. On tsuba where the cut border does not exist, like yours, the arrangement of the nanako is distinctive and very regular, in most cases it follows the outline of the tsuba in shape and that continues up to the seppa dai where it meets it continuing in that pattern. Once again in most cases the edge of the hitsu are within the seppa dai, where they are not the nanako continues in the same pattern as the rest of the tsuba. I have so for found one other like yours with a straight line of nanako toward the centre of the tsuba bordering the hitsu rather than the overall pattern but even here the regularity is pronounced. Not sure if this is just the result of your very revealing close ups but at least it set me thinking. All the best.

Dear Miguel. Welcome to NMB. The kozuka depicts a demon with a drum and the blade with it is nothing more than a paper knife. You have rescued these, now you are faced with the difficulty of knowing what to do with them. First step is to take of the habaki and lightly oil the blades. Clearly both now need a professional Japanese polish, some of our European members might be able to recommend who to use if you decide to go down this route. However, looking at the nakago of the katana it seems thicker than the blade which suggest that it has already had several polishes, given the depth of some of the rust patches it might not survive another. The koshirae looks OK for this sword. The tanto looks healthier and does not seem to be so badly damaged, more hope for this one. I like the mounts, though again they need some restoration. For now learn what you can from them and stabilise the rust as far as you can. Take careful advice and decide what you want to do with them. Enjoy! All the best.

Dear Pietro. After the Haitorei a lot of very skilled craftsmen suddenly found their livelihood under threat. Fortunately a thirst in the west for Japonisme came to their aid. Some items were sold as antique, some were made especially for export and a whole host of items were produced as examples of Japanese decorative art. We have all seen the cutlery with kozuka handles, menu holders and so forth. My Father in law had a beautiful Vesta case or match safe in iron with exquisite takazogan, clearly made by a fittings craftsman but a Western artefact. Tsuba shaped objects such as you illustrate do crop up mounted with small clocks and as Sebastien suggests, photograph frames. In this case I do not think this is converted, I can't visualise a seppa dai fitting with the design, but I suspect it was made as a tsuba shaped object with the frame, never converted from a truly Japanese object. Many years ago I came across an illustration of a pair of candlesticks, each formed by stacking twenty or so fuchi on a tsuba and soldering the whole thing together. Upset me for a long time. All the best.