Matchlock Pistol & Powder Flask, Need Help.

[ADonets]

Hi guys

Anyone can help me with these things?

This real Edo or not?

Pistol is length 25 cm.

Sorry for the bad photos.

[ADonets]

Powder flask. 12 cm diameter, 8 cm thickness.

Very strange - look like two sakazuki cup connected together?

Is this a real thing or not?

[tokashikibob]

I have a couple of firearms and 2 flasks.   Your flask if very unique and unlike mine.   I like yours.   I think your pieces are authentic.  Maybe a professional will chime in.

[Peter Bleed]

I fear that I have bad news about the "Powder Flask". I and 99.9% sure that this is a faked object made of two very nice old soup bowls. I've seen a lot of these and this one is nice, but I still bet "FAKE"

Peter

[Viper6924]

Peter is spot on regarding the flask. And the pistol is a modern construction. Both to be avoided.

 

Jan

[Bugyotsuji]

You should probably mention if these are yours, or on sale somewhere, Adonets. Personally I do not like trashing something that someone might be wanting to sell, and would like to remain silent if I do not like something. That option is not offered here.

 

On the other hand, I agree with Jan above. The gun passes the 'first glance' test. It is cleverly made with mostly genuine parts of other guns such as a shortened barrel, and fitted into a new stock, with a Mon slapped on top. The very rough pan has been filed out. Was there any paperwork with it?

 

The remaining question with the powder flask is when this work done. Some of the fittings look old, at least the end of Edo or Meiji, as are the lacquer dishes. Did the gun and flask set come together, or are they separate things, on offer perhaps? Philosophically they could even have come out of the same workshop.

[Peter Bleed]

Piers,

"Trashing" is not the word I was aiming at. I was trying to tell the "truth" about an object that had been presented. We were asked to say whether these items were 'real.' I felt I could comment - at the 99.9% level - about the putative flask. But I assumed the pistol was bad.  Politely covering for someone who is trying to sell bad stuff seems inappropriate for this venue. We all need to learn to look closely and with some suspicion. We all - also - make mistakes and have to learn to absorb them.

Positively delivered TRUTH is the best medicine.

Peter

[Bugyotsuji]

Oops Peter, I was not aiming at you or Jan particularly, but trying to clarify that I personally do not feel comfortable making a negative judgement on something without first knowing the context. In the past, (and on another site) posters have used the given information in ways that I had not foreseen. If I had known in advance why they were asking the question and for what purpose, I would not have replied in the way I did.

 

Examples.

Are these items real? (because I have just bought them and a friend cast doubt on them, and now I need ammunition to go back and get the dealer to give my money back).

Are these items real? (because they are being offered for sale and I am tempted to buy them).

Are these items from a museum or a friend's collection real?

 

Adonets, a little context please!

[ADonets]

Thanks for the help, friends.

The history of these items is simple - they are still sold at one of the ukrainian auctions.

I was not sure about the authenticity of the flask and created this topic to know the truth.

[ADonets]

Another one from this seller. "19 century Edo powder flask" 

Sorry for watermark...

[Brian]

Are they seriously gluing together 2 food bowls and then gluing on some coins? Is this a common thing, or is someone cashing in on a horde of old bowls found?

[IanB]

Yes, I'm afraid they do. I first saw such a botch job in a sword shop in the Ginza about 25 years ago. Old saki cups 1000 Yen each - powder flask very much more.

Ian Bottomley

[Bugyotsuji]

Not too long ago, perhaps on this very site, someone showed us a very similar one.