Wakizashi koshirae with no blade

[Dave R]

 Having just seen a post about current shipping problems I am very aware of having just got this in time, (arrived yesterday)... and i no longer begrudge the shipping fee, which was more than the cost of the ensemble. 

 I use the word advisedly because I have no idea if this package started life together or if it's just a collection of parts, assembled by the dealer. At the price paid, which was less than I would expect for any single item, saya, tsuka or tsuba I have no gripes or issues, though I would have liked the junk tsunagi to have arrived in one piece. Vendors photo's for the most part.

[Dave R]

.... and a few more, including one that I took of what came out of the parcel. The tsunagi is no real loss as it was a random piece inserted to hold it together and had been "buggered to fit". 

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Dave,

I suspect a cast fake for your tsuba. The rest of the pieces are, most likely, real but real low quality and late.

Unless someone else has a better idea. Grey

[Dave R]

46 minutes ago, Grey Doffin said:

Hi Dave,

I suspect a cast fake for your tsuba. The rest of the pieces are, most likely, real but real low quality and late.

Unless someone else has a better idea. Grey

 

 Pretty much what I think as well, but at the price, I am not bothered. (cheap enough to wear for cosplay!) As for the tsuba, yeah I am pretty sure its cast as well, but the question is when? The rest of the fittings... well it's a Chonin sword with signs of wear, so pre 1872 when all sword wearing was banned. Not a high class merchant, probably somebody like one of these guys, second hand clothes dealers in the big city.

 

 

[Spartancrest]

Yes sorry, Grey is correct, that tsuba was mass produced - they come in two sizes, with either cast in tagane-ato marks [see red arrows] or plain. A great number are "signed" but a few are not. Unfortunately yours has extra faults both sides top of the seppa-dai and either a cracked mimi at the bottom, casting fault or corrosion damage. It is an interesting fact that even cast tsuba came out of the factory in different 'grades'. I have seen a few so bad it is near impossible to see any details at all, I can only guess they didn't go back into the melting pot because they looked incredibly 'aged' or dug up from a battlefield and were probably sold on as such. No great drama you can always put a better guard on the koshirae and perhaps have the bonus of an interesting talking point or paperweight?

 

[Dave R]

... What date are we looking at for these cast tsuba then, late 19th or 20th century? I expected it to  be a cast item because of the "soft" look to the signature. ... And yeah, I have a few different tsuba in the spares box. Like I said, I won it cheap on ebay, so no great expectations of it.

[Spartancrest]

Hi Dave.

Age is a bit difficult to be specific - likely Meiji but they may also have been made right up to the 1950s for practice swords. There are at least two slightly different patterns so it is possible one is a copy of an earlier version - but I have no idea which pattern came first I am afraid. You might notice in the images I sent that the horses head is further under the nakago-ana on some and the trunk of the tree is moved over. But just knowing the pattern doesn't tell me which came first - it is even possible a rival company made a copy about the same time. Chinese copies coming out even now, will have several rival makers making a similar pattern so it was similarly possible in Japan where there was no copyright on designs. [at least not till more recent times]

[Spartancrest]

https://www.jauce.com/auction/s1043514683  a slightly dressed up one with some gilding, it has the 'inbuilt' tagane-ato mark.

[Dave R]

Thank you for this information. I think I might even hang onto it rather than chucking or selling it on. It's surprising what moves on eb'y even with honest caveats.... though whether the buyers pass it on like that is another matter. I have sold some out and out fakes, clearly labelled as such to educators who wanted cheap examples that that they could use and lose without sorrow.... Or dress up for a showpiece on a costume/cosplay.... it would make a good eye-patch! 

[Dave R]

Or  this... 

 

[Spartancrest]

David this is probably getting way off subject but I just came across a 'variant' to your tsuba - the scene is slightly shifted to the right and the samurai is carrying an extraordinarily long sword. Once again the guard is cast as seen in the close-ups.  https://www.jauce.com/auction/t1043730052

The seller could at least give it a rub with a cloth - it is difficult to see very much detail.  I have taken the liberty of enhancing the images. The samurai has moved even further under the nakago-ana in this piece.

[Dave R]

 I wouldn't worry about getting off subject. I post to start conversations as much as get information about pieces in my collection (hoard).

 I would guess that the vendor has little interest in showing off detail! I have also noticed that a lot of iron tosugo is posted on seller sites with little or no cleanup..... possibly because antique dealers and collectors in general as opposed to Nihontophiles like the "Fresh to the Market" uncleaned look. Possibly because a proper job involves work and time they begrudge an item they want to sell on as quickly as possible.