Interesting nerikawa koshirae for Enju mumei osuriage katana

[palousian]

Greetings!

 

I have just received my first katana with koshirae.  I had been looking for months, as I want only one, and I figured that eventually one would stand out for me, and that would be it.  And that turned out to be the case.  The elegant blade is fabulous, but I confess that the tiny homare kizu (on the mune) was what sealed the deal for me, as I also have a bit of an "honor flaw" of sorts (long story).  As I purchased this from AOI-art, their photos are better than mine, and here's a link... https://sword-auctio...kubetsu-hozon-token/

 

 

 

I am intrigued by this koshirae, and I haven't ever seen another like it, but I'm not as experienced as everyone here.  I love the minimalism of the textured/lacquered nerikawa throughout, even for the tsuba and instead of same for the tsuka.  I wonder whether this style of koshirae is familiar to anyone here, and whether anyone could provide information about it, or could show me other examples.  I searched the archives and found this apparently-early-Edo nerikawa daisho koshirae in a thread from a few years ago, but I think mine is much younger. 

 

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/6503-literal-meaning-of-handachi-applied-to-sword-koshirae/page/2/#comment-292921

 

Thank you for your expertise!

 

Paul

[2devnul]

Hi,

 

Interesting. Do I understand correctly, that everything (except Menuki) is made of lacquered leather? Even Tsuba, Fuchi, Kashira? 

For Saya that makes sense, leather scabbard were common in other cultures, but Tsuba ... 

 

Does this mean this Koshirae is more for a display, not practical/wearing type of Koshirae? 

[Lewis B]

I think I can see some corrosion peaking through on one side of the Tsuba. Maybe its lacquered iron. That would make more sense.

[Michaelr]

Paul, can’t help you out with any further information, but I Love everything about it. Congratulations and welcome to the forum. I also started out saying that I only wanted one BUTTTT I am still adding to my now Collection. Thank you for sharing   

  MikeR

[palousian]

7 hours ago, 2devnul said:

Interesting. Do I understand correctly, that everything (except Menuki) is made of lacquered leather? Even Tsuba, Fuchi, Kashira?

 

The Fuchi and Kashira are copper, covered in lacquered leather, and the Tsuka is wood covered in lacquered leather (it seems to be conventional except for the leather being used in the role of same).

 

7 hours ago, Lewis B said:

I think I can see some corrosion peaking through on one side of the Tsuba. Maybe its lacquered iron. That would make more sense.

 

I just weighed the Tsuba--only 22 g, and it sure seems like it is indeed three (?) layers of leather with lacquer.  Maybe there's a thin layer of copper inside there?  The early-Edo koshirae in the link I posted, above, has an all-leather Tsuba--indeed, it appears to have a very similar construction to my koshirae.  I'm obviously not going to test this out, but it sure seems like a very tough little thing.  My actual weapon for "use," a Kingfisher bokken (https://kingfisherwoodworks.com/collections/featured/products/hand-cut-aiki-bokken), has a nice fat leather Tsuba, which is very durable, and has saved my musician-hands from serious injury on more than one occasion.  I confess to wondering whether I could seek out a Higo-style iron Tsuba that was as thin as this one, so I could have it with this koshirae, but whoever made this koshirae seems to have been on a mission, and who am I to second-guess them?

[palousian]

12 hours ago, 2devnul said:

Does this mean this Koshirae is more for a display, not practical/wearing type of Koshirae? 

Honestly, as near as I can tell, the Koshirae is pretty robust; though the saya weighs less than a wooden one, it would probably be durable in use.

[Geraint]

Dear Paul.

 

That's quite a sword you have there.  As Aoi say, 'It is a wonderful and rare Koshirae with a high degree of perfection.' so I would suggest that you leave it exactly like it is and resist the urge to change anything.  As I understand it early nerikawa tsuba were often of three layer construction so this follows in a long tradition.

 

Enjoy!

 

All the best.

[palousian]

Well, thank you for your responses.  if anyone has information or examples of similar koshirae, or have any ideas about when/where/who my koshirae may have been made (AOI gave me no information beyond what was in the original post), it would sure be interesting to see it.  

 

Cheers,

 

Paul