John C Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 Hello: I've been trying to read through the amazing threads about tsuba originality before buying, however I may not be getting it yet. I would appreciate some guidance. The seller of these two tsuba has the first one listed as a replica, while the second (with the "animals") is listed as original. I'm thinking it's the other way around, that is, the first one with the udenuki ana seems legit to me. What am I missing? Thank you, John C. Quote
Grevedk Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 Evening John, I think it’s very safe to say that the tsuba with the “animals” is a very crude replica. Not one to own unless you need some private “horror” in your home. The other one (top picture) could both be either legit Nihonto or a used but okay made replica. Looks as if it’s been mounted at some point. Shows red (active) rust, some wear and a rather tired patina. I wouldn’t consider that either…. All the best. /Soeren 2 Quote
GRC Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 Stay away from both... Top one is almost certainly a modern repro that was used on an Iaido or replica sword, that's why it has the seppa-zuri (rust around the seppa-dai, where the brass seppa "spacer" was sitting. There's lots of things like that being sold today on many sites that sell Iai related items. Frankly, I'm amazed that the second one with the animals even exists... that's honestly one of the worst renditions of someone's "idea" of what a tsuba may be... almost like the maker had never seen one before and was just given some verbal description of what one might look like. Harsh judgement, I know... but that's my honest take on it. It's almost certainly made someplace other than Japan. 2 Quote
parfaitelumiere Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 first one is stamped tsuba easy to see the rounded edges on one side but not on other side. This is very common on Japanese iaito tsuba, but not on chinese ones, as those are more probably laser cut. The second one is one of the worst things I have been able to see. 4 1 Quote
John C Posted January 26 Author Report Posted January 26 Thank you guys for the tips - I thought everyone might get a kick out of the second one. Not sure how that is being sold as "original Edo period". John C. 1 Quote
Robert S Posted January 27 Report Posted January 27 Well, if you could get the second one for something like $20, it might be worth having just for the sheer awfulness of it. :-) Quote
Jake6500 Posted January 27 Report Posted January 27 Uneven, off-angled hexagonal shape... Guess there's a first time for everything in the knock-off market, that's why it was labelled as "original" 1 Quote
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