Saotome Tsuba?

[pcfarrar]

I got this tsuba on a wakizashi I recently purchased. I wondered if it might be Saotome? Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Thanks,

 

Peter

[remzy]

Im still far from being knowledgable when it comes to this but, i am wondering if i am the only one to find the nakago ana and the kogai hitsuana to be oddly shaped?

[Rich S]

There are some similarities to Saotome, but something doesn't quite

ring right. Is the tsuba cast? The surface is either very speckled rust

or casting bumps.

 

Rich S

[pcfarrar]

I'm not sure guess it could be cast but theres no visible sign of a seam. I know its definitely 19th century or older. It's quite badly rusted on one side, looks like it may have been lacquered at some point.

[Ford Hallam]

I know its definitely 19th century or older.

 

I wonder, Peter, do you have any evidence for your assertion?...or is this really just your impression?

 

I'd be very interested to see how this tsuba actually fits on the wakizashi it came on. Any chance of some images of it on the nakago behind the habaki but without the tsuka in place?

 

The first thing that strikes me is the oversized nakago-ana, the edge of the blade would seem to be off the seppa-dai. It's also very uncharacteristically angular, frequently a sign of modern workmanship. The need to file the nakago-ana up like this is most probably to obliterate the tall-tale seam lines of lost wax casting.

 

The overall graininess and loss of definition further confirms this as a modern cast copy to my eyes.

[Guido]

Mommy, Mommy, Rich and Ford used the "C" word again!

[pcfarrar]

I wonder, Peter, do you have any evidence for your assertion?...or is this really just your impression?

 

Sorry the wakizashi it was originally on is gone now. I guess its possible a dealer in the chain may have swapped it but the dealer I got it from said he hadn't. It was a sword that turned up at auction typical left in a garden shed for 30 years find.

 

One side of the tsuba is very badly rusted, the side in the image is the not so bad one. I do agree that its probably cast. I had a much closer look at it today after work and I think I can see a casting seam in the hitsu ana. Either way its now in the junk box.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Peter,

Unless the junk box was given to a dealer in Japan who sells questionable tsuba, I think we can assume that your tsuba is cast. This sale just popped up on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Imperial-Japanese-S ... 0142853644

Grey

[pcfarrar]

Mine is a fair bit smaller than that one only 6.5cm. Anyone need a cheap daisho set? :lol: