WalterS Posted July 11, 2009 Report Posted July 11, 2009 Hi everyone, I acquired this tsuba in a transaction that went a bit wrong... Now I'm wondering what I have. It was stated that this was "antique" with no other information. At this point I just want to know what it is, I'm not expecting much. I can't see any mold marks. The rim looks like it once had gold leaf applied. Thanks for any insight people have. Cheers, Walter one side the other side close up of the pattern sideview. you can see the edge with a bit of the gold. Quote
Mike Posted July 12, 2009 Report Posted July 12, 2009 Hi, Size and material will help. Thanks, Mike Quote
Ford Hallam Posted July 12, 2009 Report Posted July 12, 2009 If this tsuba is steel, and I believe it is, then this is quite a rare piece. Nanako ( that surface decoration of tiny grains) is extremely rare on steel because its so very hard to do without repeatedly ruining your punches. If you look closely, with magnification, at the edge where the traces of gold are, you may see fine cross hatching that would indicated that the gold was applied by way of nunome-zogan. regards, Ford Quote
WalterS Posted July 12, 2009 Author Report Posted July 12, 2009 Thanks for the replies. Dimensions: about 68 mm wide, 73 mm tall, 6 mm thick. The nakago ana is about 28 mm high. Material: I believe it is steel, just based on the appearance of the metal on the inside surface of the nakago ana. I have some background with steel and wrought iron through bladesmithing, but I am not familiar with other forms Japanese iron might take. It does not seem to be wrought iron in any case. Where the gold remains on the rim you can see cross-hatching. This is what made me think that it was gold applied to the rim, and not just paint or brass. On other parts of the rim, the rusting has completely obliterated the gold and the pattern. BTW, I am (perhaps obviously ) not familiar with terms and history here... so please feel free to correct my terminology or point me in useful directions. I realize I have jumped into your forum with both feet and appreciate any help given. Quote
Grey Doffin Posted July 12, 2009 Report Posted July 12, 2009 A magnet will tell you very quickly if this is steel. Grey Quote
WalterS Posted July 12, 2009 Author Report Posted July 12, 2009 Sticks to a magnet. Definitely ferrous. Quote
bluboxer Posted July 13, 2009 Report Posted July 13, 2009 Ford Hallam said: If this tsuba is steel, and I believe it is, then this is quite a rare piece. Nanako ( that surface decoration of tiny grains) is extremely rare on steel because its so very hard to do without repeatedly ruining your punches.regards, Ford I think the distinction was between steel (iron + carbon) and softer iron (small amount or no carbon)?Both are magnetic.The only way to tell the difference would be to check the hardness by physical test which would mar the surface. Alan Quote
remzy Posted July 13, 2009 Report Posted July 13, 2009 Id say he meant iron, i dont see why someone would use steel to make a tsuba when it could have been used for sword or something that would actually need the hardness, iron is already hard enough than it could need to be and is less britle & easier to work with. unless i missed a visual characteristic steel has over iron. But anyways, i like your tsuba, its interesting! Remy Quote
Ford Hallam Posted July 13, 2009 Report Posted July 13, 2009 If it's traditionally made material, ie; charcoal fired tatara, then it would be practically impossible to produce a ferrous product that didn't contain some carbon ,thus making it steel. The average carbon content of the outer skin of a sword is 0.7%....just as an indication of how little carbon is required to make a decent steel. The use of the term "iron" with regard to tsuba, while a convention we've grown used to, is, technically speaking, completely misleading. ...and I think I deserve an award there for the most commas per actual words. Quote
bluboxer Posted July 13, 2009 Report Posted July 13, 2009 Ah yes,I understand now.My bad. Thanks for the clarification.I had thought that the kera would have some amount of essentially pure iron (less than 0.2% carbon) that could be used to make tsuba and other fittings and some actually used steel of higher carbon content (>o.2%) for high toughness. Similar to using temper/re-temper vs. hardening/heat treatment of a sword blade. So the distinction lies between steel (iron/carbon alloy) vs softer (non-ferrous) metals such as brass,copper,etc.?Adding decoration such as this is difficult enough without the additional hardness of the material. Very nice tsuba. Alan Quote
cspage Posted July 14, 2009 Report Posted July 14, 2009 Walter, take a look at this website. There are two tsuba like yours, one with a mei. http://www.japanesesword.com/ Look at the Tsuba link on the site. First two tsuba on the page. Colin Quote
Soshin Posted July 15, 2009 Report Posted July 15, 2009 I like the tsuba as well. I would agree that the tsuba posted here is very similar to the first two tsuba listed at Japanesesword.com website. Yours truly, David (Soshin) Quote
WalterS Posted July 15, 2009 Author Report Posted July 15, 2009 Thank you to everyone for the thoughts. The tsubas at Japaneseswords.com do look very similar, and the second one is even very similar in dimensions. Anyone know of any modern repos of this pattern? Quote
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