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Help on Kozuka


Martin

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Hi all,

 

I have recently acquired a nice Kozuka.

 

kozuka-small.jpg

 

Could anyone please help me translating the mei and maybe tell if the signature is genuine.

 

It seems to me that the front is made of Shibuichi and the back of (meanwhile dark) copper. At least this is my impression because the back is quite abraded and the red color of the copper can be seen. Am I right with this assumption that back and front are sometimes made of different materials?

 

The third thing I would like to know is if it is possible to repatinate the back of the Kozuka and how this is usually done?

 

Thanks in advance and Happy Holidays to all,

Martin

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The mei is Nara Toshimitsu, died late 1600's, Haynes 10443, mei in Kinko Meikan pg. 250 and Wakayama I pgs. 133 & 134; does not match examples so if in doubt shinsa. Patination is exactly that. An alloy of copper and precious metal is pickled to give the final colour. Shakudo is copper and gold, shibuichi is copper and silver if memory serves. The colour is only on the surface so when wear occurs you can see the base colour of the unpatinated metal. It was not unusual to have different metals used for front and back. As for repatination I'm sure it could be done but it would have to be sent to a restorationist (if you can find one)and it gets expensive and probably not appropriate. Wear is to be expected.

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Many thanks so far for your posts.

 

Unfortunately I don´t have any Tosogu books to compare the signatures.

Would it be possible for anyone to maybe post some pictured examples of the signature?

In my opinion it doesn´t look clumsy - but I am a complete novice in judging signatures on fittings :(

The only object I found to compare with is a Fuchi / Kashira signed Nara Toshimitsu at the Usagiya website.

But who knows if that´s an authentic signature...

And even if I had a good and a bad signature to compare I doubt that I could see the difference or indicators that finally states it true or false :?

 

cheers,

Martin

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note the rating on the smith........... this one says" superior " maker?

While the other ( the Katsutomi ) rated differently

.

I am referring to the term listed beneath the time period.

 

http://www.esnips.com/doc/0e9e24e2-bd38 ... f/CSC_0061

 

Personally i think this rating is more valid than the monetary one........I checked other kodogu books, it turns out the monetary rating is quite common ( but different from each book by different authors ).

 

milt THE ronin

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maybe a silly question, but i see a lot of kozuka without attached pliers or blades... were some kozuka only used as decorations of saya?

 

KM

 

it is possible the blades were removed and sold separately..........

 

I have about 5 of those and I always wonder about the mei ( some big names there ), I will take some pics , I think at least one or two mei looks legit.

 

milt THE ronin

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Hi Milt, I can not tell for sure. I believed that this kotetsu was legit but when I sent in the scan was told unlikely. It seems replicating these things was quite the cottage industry. Last year when I had posted this kogatana on another site I had correspondence with a fellow that also had a Kotetsu that he subsequently was pinked for. He was sure by comparison that his was legit. Go figure. John

Kogatana-Mei.gif

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