What to do advice from friends

[Moley]

Hi Friends, in a bit of a pickle here and I don't know what to do. Perhaps a few words of advice and some sympathy from friends will help?

To cut a long story short, I bought a very nice Koto (Nanbokucho) blade with two sets of Koshirae.

The previous owner was a Japanese iaidoka.

(Before I get roasted for this - I PERSONALLY DO NOT USE ANY ANTIQUE BLADES / NIHONTO or SHINKEN for Iaido). This is a study blade only.

Anyway - I bought it with and an option for  an "extra set of fittings that the Japanese master used for Iaido"  so I went for BOTH fittings.

It came housed in the everyday Iaido Koshirae with the good quality Koshirae (minus a Tsuba) housed in a Tsunangi. 

I was very pleased when I found a matching Tsuba for the good quality Koshirae and displayed them as a Daisho with the Good Fittings in Tsunangi on Top and the blade in the Iaido Fittings underneath.

The display was pride of place for years.

Until today.

I suddenly got the urge to display the blade in the good quality fittings.

ALAS... although the Saya fits, the Tsuka was NEVER made for that blade.

As you see, I can no longer display them together, they are not meant to be and I am not happy.

So now I moved another sword into the display.

BUT

What to do with the good quality fittings in the tsunangi?

I don't know anything about their quality, what they are or what they would be worth.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ?

Advice and sympathy please.

Gwyn

North Wales

 

[Moley]

[Moley]

[Moley]

[Brian]

Pity. I wonder if he had more than one set of koshirae and sent the wrong one?
Is the fitting waaay off? No change of climate change causing it to shrink a little? If it were me, I'd display it proudly as an example of a good quality koshirae, unrelated to the sword. Nothing wrong with collecting and displaying just a koshirae.
The other option, if the saya fits, is to use the fittings and have someone make a new tsuka?

[Spartancrest]

Gwyn one of your images shows two seppa on the one side of the tsuba - it shouldn't logically misalign the tsuka [the thickness overall is the same ] but have you tried all configurations? Thinner/thicker seppa? 

[Moley]

Thanks Dale, will do.

[Moley]

Duhhh, Silly me. There was two sets of Habaki as well.  A double habaki that only goes with the quality koshirae and a solid silver one that only goes with the Iai fittings. (I thought I'd put the silver one with the quality fittings.)  Duhh

[Spartancrest]

  I recently saw a set of fittings with instructions on the order of how they should be assembled written on them in Japanese. Ikea labels A,B,C, etc. would help? 

 

[Ikea - sounds vaguely Japanese!]

[Moley]

So , how to display ?

Blade on top or Tsunangi on top ?  Blade koshirae fractionally longer.