The Ghost Of A Ko Tosho Tsuba?

[dominnimod]

Bought this tsuba to mount on a sword for cheap(junk) price.

When i received it in hand, it was a surprise to see how thin it is compared with late edo tsubas i have.

Unfortunately, it seem to have been coated with some kind of laquer, so i can't appreciate the patina.

Another thing to notice is the weird position of the kozuka ana towards the nakago ana(added after?) and the wakizashi size(6,5x6,5x0,2/0,3), but also the mimi is covered with copper.

Do you think it's an early guard or a later production with the same style?If this was one of those early tsubas at some point, could it be resized to fit a wakizashi(thus the copper covered mimi)? Is the design a dove? Any recommendations about getting that ugly shiny laquer off? It resist quite good the toothbrush,the texture remind me to the laquer spray used in painting.

Thanks

 

Sinceresly

 

[Guido]

Paint stripper / remover will take care of the lacquer without harming the patina. I talked to Ford Hallam about it recently because I had a similar problem, and it worked just fine. Thanks again, Ford!

[dominnimod]

Paint stripper / remover will take care of the lacquer without harming the patina. I talked to Ford Hallam about it recently because I had a similar problem, and it worked just fine. Thanks again, Ford!

I'm glad to hear i can remove it, i will try the paint stripper this night, many thanks both Guido and Ford!

[Curran]

Paint stripper / remover will take care of the lacquer without harming the patina. I talked to Ford Hallam about it recently because I had a similar problem, and it worked just fine. Thanks again, Ford!

 

+1 to this.

I went slow with Q-tips on a 4th gen Jingo covered in lacquer that looked like an oily hubcap.

It ended up being an incredibly beautiful tsuba under the lacquer.

 

Not all turn out as well, but this one would probably benefit exactly as Guido-Ford have advised.

[rkg]

I currently have a tempo like that I'm trying to salvage - it was a "bad pic" buy off of yahoo Japan - sometimes you make out ok, other times you get a piece that it looks like somebody slopped black enamel paint on, then black waxed it, and then..

The paint on your piece isn't old, right?  even if it looks a little funky, if the lacquer is old you have to think twice about pulling it off...

 

But I digress...

 

I started out with alcohol, got a bunch of black stuff (I assume was black wax - acted like it) off, then switched to the stripper you can get anywhere - it did a bang-up job getting the stuff off the broad areas, but down in the stamps/pores/indentations... Not So much.  Then I got busy/injured again so I haven't gotten back to it/dug out the lacquer thinner/tried hunting down some aircraft stripper, etc.

 

Good Luck,

rkg

(Richard George)

[dominnimod]

I currently have a tempo like that I'm trying to salvage - it was a "bad pic" buy off of yahoo Japan - sometimes you make out ok, other times you get a piece that it looks like somebody slopped black enamel paint on, then black waxed it, and then..

 

The paint on your piece isn't old, right?  even if it looks a little funky, if the lacquer is old you have to think twice about pulling it off...

 

But I digress...

 

I started out with alcohol, got a bunch of black stuff (I assume was black wax - acted like it) off, then switched to the stripper you can get anywhere - it did a bang-up job getting the stuff off the broad areas, but down in the stamps/pores/indentations... Not So much.  Then I got busy/injured again so I haven't gotten back to it/dug out the lacquer thinner/tried hunting down some aircraft stripper, etc.

 

Good Luck,

rkg

(Richard George)

 

It's not paint and the laquer is not old, it has nothing to do with urushi, is kindda like the laquer used for the hair, i hope it comes off easy, but no idea how this is gonna end

[dominnimod]

Im back reporting results:

After the first cleaning with alcohol, most of the shiny went off, leaving a very sticky tsuba with very ugly grey dull layers of the discolured laquer i guess.

Followed the paint stripper. After this, i repeated the process to make sure no laquer stays on my tsuba. Finally i cleaned it with the tootbrush and soap to get rid of anything could stay on the tsuba.

And now, here is the result:

At least now is a sincere tsuba,not a shiny ugly thing anymore, but now, a problem with missing patina is visible, with the light of the night i can't see much, and my pics aren't that clear, i will try tomorrow with the sunlight. PD: i'm very tired or those are some kind of markings?

 

[dominnimod]

Poor thing, looks so ugly under the sun