Heianjo Tsuba Condition

[Ken-Hawaii]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sukashi-Tsuba-Flower-Japanese-Antique-Katana-Sword-Koshirae-Wakizashi-Tosogu-Edo-/292175047578

 

Has this tsuba been in a fire, or is its poor condition caused by water damage? How can one tell? 

 

Ken

 

[Bazza]

IMHO sheer neglect (edit out) in a Japanese forgotten place with humidity...

 

BaZZa.

[ROKUJURO]

Ken,

what we see is heavy corrosion, but this may well have been accelerated by a fire, I think.  If we look at the SHINCHU, it is also damaged in places, but rust would not have affected it. The melting intervall of brass is roughly between 950 and 1.000°C, so a damage by fire is likely.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Thanks, Jean. Do you see signs of the shinchu melting? That's what I looked for, but it seemed that any brass damage was more related to excessive rust than to excessive heat. As BaZZa says, it could have easily sat in high humidity for centuries, but the rust sure looks deep for just that. I'm trying to get a handle on why the iron would almost disintegrate like this.

 

Ken

 

[Akao]

I take advantage of this topic : why is there so many tsuba been in a fire ? It was an old restoration technique ?

 

Thanks

[Gunome]

hello,

I take advantage of this topic : why is there so many tsuba been in a fire ? It was an old restoration technique ?

 

Thanks

 

As far as I know, there is not so many tsuba been in fire and it is not an old restoration technique.

Traditional japaneses houses are in wood, so very sensitives to fire due to accidents, wars, ...

[ROKUJURO]

....Do you see signs of the shinchu melting?......

Ken,

 

I am not sure! But the damage of the brass is somewhat strange and not typical. An inlay piece might fall off as a whole, but it should not be damaged partly by rust, I think.

On the other hand, Ford is the man to comment competently on this subject,   

[peterd]

Hi. Is this inlay or something else ?

[ROKUJURO]

Normally HIRA-ZOGAN.

[Ken-Hawaii]

If a tsuba was immersed in saltwater for a century & then left sitting around, this is how I'd picture the result.

 

Ken