UK Nihonto and acid etching

[carlitobrigante]

Hi all. hope everyone is well.

 

Ive heard it mentioned a few times in various places and forums that alot of UK nihonto collectors / sellers and pieces have used acid etching on the blades. Presumably to bring out the hada and hamon on pieces in old polish, or poor polish to save money?

 

Why would any serious collector do this? surely a piece that has had acid poured all over it is easy to spot, difficult to rectify and will put serious collectors off?

 

or is it something thats not easily noticable and you need to be wary about when buying pieces from the uk? i take it that its something that seriously de-values a blade? why is this so common in the Uk and not elsewhere, or have I been told a load of dogs danglys?

 

apologies for all the questions, any advice welcome as i will be buying most of my future collection from the uk as i just dont think i could ever stomach buying a piece abroad and taking the risk of transporting it here (espiecially now with the uk sword ban, can you imagine some dumb customs official destroying my valuable nihonto as it looked to him just another 'Japanese style sword'!!! - interesting to know how other uk buyers feel about this now the ban has come in)

 

Regards

 

Adam

[Guest reinhard]

Hi Adam,

 

Acid-etching of NihonTo started during later 19th century in Japan and was applied rather discreetly then (nonetheless still visible). Among the collection of Japanese swords in the "Historisches Museum Bern" in Switzerland there are a few blades slightly etched. They came to Europe during Meiji-period and have not been altered since. They are of minor quality and probably chosen for export before they were etched. The etching is not immediately visible and the polish is good. The blades have a somewhat vulgar appeal, for the contrast of the hada and especially the chikei jump into your eye. This goes at the expense of the nioi-guchi, which is dull and sometimes difficult to discern at all. It can be speculated, that this was done to satisfy the primitive western taste. The merchants in Yokohama probably didn't care too much about subtle details.

It seems, that etching unfortunately gained popularity recently. Apart from the poor junk pretending to be NihonTo, there are also pretty good swords in proper polish (even ShinsakuTo) which have been carefully etched. I saw one in Japan last year. I recommend to avoid those swords. The process of etching is damaging the sword in the long run and it is not only spoiling the eye of the beholder but it is kind of insulting the subtle culture of Nihon-To.

 

reinhard

[Guest Simon Rowson]

Hi Adam,

 

During my years collecting in the UK there were various, widely-used, amateur "polishers" who were rumoured to use acid. One tell-tale sign to look for is a dull, blackish looking hamon - sometimes it almost looks like someone has drawn it on with a 4B pencil!

 

However, recent use of acid is not limited to the UK amateurs - in the book "The Art of Japanese Sword Polishing" (by Settsuo Takaiwa, Yoshindo Yoshihara and the Kapps) there is a section entitled "Polishing with Nitric Acid" on pages 136-137 and this is apparently used to bring out a stronger nioi-guchi line.

 

Regards,

Simon

[Brian]

Why would any serious collector do this?

 

Your answer lies right there in the question. They are not serious collectors. Merely dealers or amateurs who want to see a vivid hamon more than preserve a sword.

And no..it is not restricted to the UK. I have seen many here in SA, and quite a few in the USA. I think where there are more proper polishers, there is less of this happening. People who feel like they don't have access to proper restoration resources go this route in order to show what they can't see. But in doing this, they seriously damage the sword.

 

I think Ferric Chloride etching is maybe even more common than acid sometimes. It makes the hamon and nioi-guchi vivid white, but is terrible, and obscures everything you want to see.

Then there is the terrible effect of opening the grain to the point that even a proper polish will battle to save it.

 

There are probably ways in which it is used legitimately, and in ancient times maybe. But these modern day guys don't know how and ruin the blade. At best, you pay twice. Once for the bad polish, and then even more later to undo what was done.

 

Brian

[IanB]

Adam,

We are not all barbarians in the UK. Yes, a lot of the trade, and some collectors, have fallen into the trap of 'gilding the lily' by having blades 'freshened up' by non-Japanese techniques, but I see far less of it these days. Contact with Japan from the UK has not always been easy. When I started collecting in the 60's, Japan was as remote to me as the moon. I did have a blade polished about 1970, by Mr Hakusui of the Japan Sword Co. and it cost me £35 - many weeks wages. I think you will find that nowadays the members of both ToKen Societies regularly send blades to Japan, despite the erratic attitude to such unimaginable behaviour taken by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise (now renamed Customs and Revenue). This noble body seems to levy duty on a system based on tossing a coin -heads you pay heavily for the privilege of them allowing you to spend your money abroad, tails we will levy a modest charge for no reason other than it brings a bit more cash into the coffers.

 

Ian Bottomley.

[raaay]

Adam

 

as Brian said you basicly answered your own question.

 

In my experience you can spot the acid etched polish on a sword from a mile away .

 

but i have seen some latley that looked more natural'ish so YEH TAKE CARE .

 

there is still lots of good dealers etc in the UK , SO NO PROBLEM THERE.

 

i Will not mention any names or sites but if anyone noticed there was a sword sold on Ebay recently and within a week or so, it apperead on a well kwowing web site " in polish !!!"

 

there is your answer again ,it is quick cheap and nasty, of course only MHO

 

regards

ray