Spurious gunto sarute - a Chinese-made one?

[Yukihiro]

I would like your opinion on the sarute of a Masatsugu sword I am buying: to me, it does not look Japanese at all, but more like something you would expect to find on a (cheap) Chinese sword.

 

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

It doesn't look correct at all, carefully check the rest of the fittings to make sure they are matching.

[Yukihiro]

The koshirae as a whole looks okayish to me.

 

 

 

 

 

All four seppa are number matching, but that does not mean per se that they are original to this sword.

 

[Yukihiro]

 

To me, the only element that does seem off is that weird- (Chinese- ?) looking sarute.

 

The blade is 1942 dated - does that qualify as early? Because those pierced tsuba are supposed to be early ones, aren't they?

[BANGBANGSAN]

1 hour ago, Yukihiro said:

 

To me, the only element that does seem off is that weird- (Chinese- ?) looking sarute.

 

The blade is 1942 dated - does that qualify as early? Because those pierced tsuba are supposed to be early ones, aren't they?

It might has star stamp under the habaki

[Yukihiro]

14 minutes ago, BANGBANGSAN said:

It might has star stamp under the habaki

Yes, you are absolutely right, but the seller assured me he had been unable to spot the tell-tale star stamp anywhere on the blade.

 

This is the best shot I can provide for the time being.

 

 

I suppose the sword wouldn't look much worse without that weird sarute.

[Bruce Pennington]

Pierced tsuba we’re present throughout the war. The early ones were thicker so if you measure the width, it might indicate an earlier one. I don’t remember the dimensions of fat and thinner, but John does.

[Yukihiro]

24 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Pierced tsuba we’re present throughout the war. The early ones were thicker so if you measure the width, it might indicate an earlier one. I don’t remember the dimensions of fat and thinner, but John does.

I have one such pierced tsuba at home: it is both a little wider and thicker than the standard gunto tsuba.

[Bruce Pennington]

Yes, that unusual tsuba we discussed on your thread Unusual Open Work Tsuba.  

 

Now you made me notice the tsuba on your original post, above.  The hole for the latch looks like it was originally rectangular, but then was drilled out in a round hole!  You've got a couple of unusual tsuba, Didier!

[Yukihiro]

You have a keen eye, Bruce! You've got a point there: it looks like a put together koshirae. Hopefully the blade is worth something.

[Kiipu]

6 hours ago, BANGBANGSAN said:

It might has star stamp under the habaki.

 

The "Star" stamp was not used this early in 1942.  It came later in 1942.  However, if an army contract blade, it might have some inspection marks on the nakago mune.

[Yukihiro]

@Bruce Pennington Those pierced tsuba with "reworked" latch holes are apparently not uncommon.

 

[Yukihiro]

It did take me quite a while to see it (...), but I have now understood that the leather saya comes with a matching leather tsuka cover

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Good research on those tsuba, Didier!  Don't know how you found those (but I've never been a good Search'er)

 

What a creative way to store that leather tsuka cover!

[Yukihiro]

There are two possible explanations: either the leather saya is damaged and the tsuka cover is here to hide the ugly scar, or the original owner wanted to display the tsuka and keep the cover on the sword at the same time. 

I should be able to ascertain the integrity of the saya by the end of next week.

[Banton989]

This swords just popped up in a Facebook post!

[Yukihiro]

2 hours ago, Banton989 said:

This swords just popped up in a Facebook post!

Well, I sure didn't post that!

The bloke who posted the photos three hours ago does not even look a thing like me !