edzo Posted July 24, 2011 Report Posted July 24, 2011 Hi John, If you have no objections I was wondering what method of cleaning you employed? Secondly, and pardon my ignorance, are the small pits in the iron "bones"?, I'm a newbie. I like it! nice detail on the net rope! Respectfully, Ed F. Quote
johnb Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Posted July 24, 2011 Have a look at the link on this site for bones.viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9046&view=previous And have a look at this one for cleaning tsubahttp://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/vie ... w=previous And as far as your ignorance goes...it's probably akin to mine.. :D Bybthe way...a good place to get bone is from old kitchen knives, they often used bone handles and it's good and dry. Johnb Quote
edzo Posted July 24, 2011 Report Posted July 24, 2011 Hi JohnB, Thanks for that, I will bank the links and review them. I could not resist because i thought it looked so good. I think its a good one but i dont know for sure. Thanks Ed F Quote
Brian Posted July 24, 2011 Report Posted July 24, 2011 Be careful of over cleaning...you don't want things bright and shiny. Brian Quote
johnb Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Posted July 24, 2011 Totally agree Brian. In fact the first two pics are how much closer to how it looks..the reason the brass look brighter in the other shot is a result of the angle of the shot and the reflected sun. Johnb Quote
Mark Green Posted July 24, 2011 Report Posted July 24, 2011 Sweet! Love it. Great Job on the clean up. Thanks for sharing. MarkG Quote
johnb Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Posted July 25, 2011 Thanks Mark, I like it too. Johnb Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted July 25, 2011 Report Posted July 25, 2011 John are you sure its copper and not gold ? KM Quote
sanjuro Posted July 25, 2011 Report Posted July 25, 2011 Just a thought from a non tsuba guy here, but surely this is more likely brass inlay. Gold would not oxidise to a brown colour and whilst copper might oxidise to a dark brownish, it would appear more reddish than yellow when cleaned up. John has already identified the inlay as brass. OK... I'll get back in my box now. :D Quote
johnb Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Posted July 28, 2011 It didn't cross my mind as to whether it might be gold. Does gold oxidize? Johnb Quote
sanjuro Posted July 28, 2011 Report Posted July 28, 2011 Yes, but it doesnt change colour. Sometimes a greenish patina occurs in small pockets if the gold is not very pure, but it tends not to be an overall discolouration such as you see in brass or copper. Quote
johnb Posted July 28, 2011 Author Report Posted July 28, 2011 Thanks Keith, in which case I'd go with brass. Johnb Quote
sanjuro Posted July 28, 2011 Report Posted July 28, 2011 John There is another reason it is probably brass. Brass is far more durable as an inlay of this type than thin gold wire would be. Its also more available and a whole heap less expensive. Usually, this much solid inlay in gold would only appear on a very high level and consequently more expensive tsuba. Quote
Soshin Posted July 29, 2011 Report Posted July 29, 2011 Keith's G. point is generally true but before the Edo Period all brass was imported from China and so brass was at times around the same price as gold was in pre Edo Period Japan. This was due to the lack of natural zinc deposits in Japan required to make brass. The Heianjo-zogan, Yoshiro, and Onin school guards with there brass inlays were the tsuba often worn by the wealthy and the upperclass located in and around Kyoto. Yours truly, David Stiles Quote
johnb Posted July 29, 2011 Author Report Posted July 29, 2011 Well thanks Keith, so my tsuba is low level and not very expensive. Johnb Quote
sanjuro Posted July 29, 2011 Report Posted July 29, 2011 John Hey.... what do I know? I like shiny pointy things. Thats not quite what I said :lol: I said that gold inlay would have been more likely on a high level and expensive tsuba. This means at worse that your tsuba does not appear to be of that highest quality. It is however quite a nice tsuba and I dont think that it is a low quality piece at all. Theres a lot of work in that inlay and you dont do that kind of work on a low quality piece. :D Quote
johnb Posted July 29, 2011 Author Report Posted July 29, 2011 Hahaha...i din't take offence Keith. But nonetheless, thank you for your very nice reply. John Quote
sanjuro Posted July 30, 2011 Report Posted July 30, 2011 John Something that has not been spoken of is the quality of the plate. We have all been absorbed by the inlay and neglected the ground against which it is set. With the minimal loss of inlay in the suba and the depth of the vacant groove beds, the steel looks to be quite decent. Hard to tell in a photograph. With tsuba in hand, what are your impressions of the plate itself? Quote
Pete Klein Posted July 30, 2011 Report Posted July 30, 2011 http://blog.goo.ne.jp/tsuba_001 7/30/11: There are two excellent examples of brass inlay tsuba, in this case Onin, top page. What makes Onin tsuba interesting to me is that the brass was actually cast and then inset into the tsuba, where Heianjo had the brass inlaid, then carved. You might also note the color of the top example is brownish as this has age patina where the second has been cleaned and the brass is shiny. It's not easy to find examples this good with all of the inlay intact. Quote
Soshin Posted July 30, 2011 Report Posted July 30, 2011 Hi Pete, Thanks for sharing the two fine examples of Onin school work. Its remarkable how well preserved the brass work is on both tsuba. Yours truly, David Stiles Yours truly, David Stiles Quote
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