Hannah

Hi, thank you so much. You said that the tsuba in question and this one are far too similar to not be related. But this would mean that both tsubas would be related to the Tokugawa Gosanke which I thought we established that it was far too low of a quality to have been. Just a little confused Hannah

If it had been in this museum, how would it have gotten out? Did the museum sell objects to people or might it have got lost? H.

Finally figured it out. Here are the pictures with a decent resolution. H.

The ones with the red background were taken about 10 years ago by a previous group that did this tsuba, the others by an iPad. The reason they look bad is due to the 3D camera we had to use. Still trying to find the lost images, those were taken with the normal camera.

If I have them on my desktop, how can I do that? I want to make this as accessible as possible so that the photos are seen on the post. Thanks

Haha! Sorry, the files didn't fit. Would the layering be copper on one side and iron on the other? What might that suggest? It's magnetic (which copper is not) yet a lot of people are suggesting that it is copper. If it were only two layers, one would have to be made of a magnetic material (iron). H

No, unfortunately, we only had one chance to see the tsuba, so we took plenty of pictures. Unfortunately, we seem to have lost a few of them, but I'm working on recovering them. I've gone through the ones we have and zoomed in to get a better look. The quality isn't great, but it appears that the inside surface of the tsuba is covered in bumps and there doesn't seem to be any smooth part. You can check out the zoomed-in pictures here https://drive.google...Mwd1o?usp=drive_link H.

Would it have been possible for the tsuba to have been made in Nagasaki? Or was it just a port exporting goods? I also found this: From 1641 onwards, Dutch and Chinese ships were allowed entry to a Japanese port, the designated port being Nagasaki. Dutch traders resided on the artificial island of Dejima and were the only Westerners to be able to trade with Japan.

We had a magnet about 2 cm in diameter and the magnetic pull was strong all around but it was strongest on the side (where the writing is)

The tsuba seems to have a magnetic pull, specifically from the sides. Although I believe the surface is made of copper, which is not magnetic, the sides may have more traces of iron, hence the slight magnetic effect.

Yep, it's iron and copper.

Hi, I've added 17 new pictures with red backgrounds. You can find them at https://drive.google...Tflsiyq?usp=sharing. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space to put them here. Hope you can see it better! Best, Hannah

Let's take the scenario that the fire damage had happened after its departure from Japan. Could it have been in use or as decor/collections in Japan? @Brian mentioned that it doesn't look like it was made for serious use, so what might it have been doing in Japan for almost 200 years? H.

I thought that due to the poor quality of the cloisonne, it was made in the 1600's?

The damage would come from the shipwreck? So why would someone buy a damaged Tsuba? Do collectors care whether they are damaged, in good condition, or good quality?