Would you pay $2,000 for this?

[Spartancrest]

https://www.bonhams....0503/lot/1062/tsuba/   Auction held 16 October 2012 Estimate US$1,500 - US$2,000

 

To be "fair" this was amongst around eighty "real" tsuba in the auction. 

 

However when you see other auction sites selling the same rubbish for ¥ 3,500  https://page.auction.../auction/g1101034296 you have to wonder if the big auction houses are/were doing their duty of care!

      

[ROKUJURO]

Safe to say it's not Japanese, and was made yesterday.

[Gunome]

Neither 2000 dollars nor 2000 yen 

[Spartancrest]

I am afraid it was produced in the "LANDFILL AGE" - Why do we as humans allow people to produce rubbish as a business? There really ought to be a hefty tax on deliberately producing waste as a business model!

 but look around at all the one-time-use junk we see for sale, knowing full well it won't last and next week will end up in the garbage. [handy having the "getting off my soapbox" emoji ] 

[davel]

"signed Umetada"

[KungFooey]

Apart from looking so dumb, it would give the samurai pretty damaged knuckles! 🤣

 

Dee

[Shuko]

How did they manage to get 8 real tsuba to auction ?  Must have been their lucky client day.

[Spartancrest]

When you see four guards selling around the same time span - which can you trust? If any? Maybe the last in iron - with some inlay and tagane-ato, a bit difficult to be sure if even it might be a copy. Seeing too many "replicas" puts you off!

 

 

The "Where's Wally?" difference is