MarkCH Posted September 13 Report Posted September 13 Hello everybody. Can anyone tell me if this tsuba is a real thing or a modern cast? The surface, especially on the reverse is very smooth, like it might have been manufactured rather than hand-crafted (but what do I know). Also the seppa dai is raised and uneven and I imagine it should be pretty flat to connect well with the seppa. On the other hand I don't see any obvious signs of mould lines or seams. If it helps I included a x200 magnification of the area of the crane's eye. It is 109,8 x 110,3 mm and 6,4 mm thick at seppa dai, weighs about 210 grams and is made of iron. Quote
thutson Posted September 13 Report Posted September 13 Hello Mark, I'm afraid to my eye this has all the hallmarks of being a modern cast. Quote
Jesta Posted September 13 Report Posted September 13 It looks cast to me. Probably from an impression in a sand mould. No seams doesn’t mean that it wasn’t cast. The front bears the look of something cast in an open mould (see here for an example: https://youtu.be/_HFeWb_bAJU). The back would be smooth because it was sanded down and polished. Quote
MarkCH Posted September 13 Author Report Posted September 13 Ok, thank you very much for you answers. Quote
Spartancrest Posted September 13 Report Posted September 13 It may have started out being on a display board or was made for a paperweight "Nambu tekki" cast iron souvenir, they were only meant to be seen on one side. Quote
Lee Bray Posted September 13 Report Posted September 13 Size and weight seem off for a regular katana tsuba. It's about twice the weight, 3-4cm too large and 2mm too thick for the 'dancing crane' tsuba one normally sees. Dale is probably on the money with some kind of display piece rather than a real tsuba. Quote
Spartancrest Posted September 13 Report Posted September 13 57 minutes ago, ROKUJURO said: Something very similar: I think you have found the culprit The texture and 'kao' on the seppa-dai, the eye and nose hole match - censer (kōrō 香炉) burner top. I even found a black one [image is too small for details] 2 1 Quote
MarkCH Posted September 13 Author Report Posted September 13 Seems almost identical, I guess that settles the issue, thank you. 1 Quote
Jesta Posted September 16 Report Posted September 16 I found this recently… Seems like this is what it should look like: https://www.aoijapan...mumeiunsigned-crane/ Quote
ROKUJURO Posted September 16 Report Posted September 16 Justyn, that one looks definitely better! Quote
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