Antiques Roadshow

[Stever]

Oh my lord. Was just watching the Antiques Roadshow, and this lady had a set of English silverware, but the handles were all kozuka. She also had a box of about 10 or 15 assorted kozuka. Had no idea what they were worth. Apparently her grandfather had gotten them from a collector around 1900 in England. The appraiser at the roadshow valued the set at about $1000 to $1500 (CDN!), because "the silver company was fairly good". He said the individual kozuka were worth about 50 or 100 bucks a piece. How do I get a hold of this lady!?

 

Anyway, I just couldn't believe my eyes and had to write. Cheers all.

 

/steve r

[John A Stuart]

Hi Steve, I,ve seen a few roadshows Canadian and the American and British versions that have had Nihonto, Netsuke and various metalwork appraised that were valued very low. One sword in koshirae was evaluated by a lady from New York on the American show that skipped over the sword and evaluated the koshirae only, badly. It is still a small community. John

[Rich T]

Antiques Road Show once that had a wooden box from Japan adorned in tsuba and menuki. All were recessed into the timber panels. They did a few close ups and the tsuba I thought at the time they all looked to be shiiremono. Not much more than bling. The antique expert also noted that a lot of these sorts of items were put together in the times when the ports were open to the world (Meiji Restoration) and tourists started pouring in.

 

My guess would be that this would be the case in a lot of times. But also, from time to time, we see real work which has been attached to a butter knife or some such thing. I am sure someone in the house thought it a charming use for such a pretty thing.

 

Cheers

 

Rich

[nagamaki - Franco]

These fancy handled "silverware kozuka" were made mostly for export (as Rich noted). They should not be mistaken for true "nihonto kozuka," despite looking similar. Still, one should look carefully.

 

In fact there are times when real "nihonto kozuka" can be mistaken for "silverware pieces," as in a recent sale of 8 "Japanese fruit parring knives." Which came complete with ko gatanas that were the real deal. Unfortunately, the kozukas and ko gatanas must have all been dipped in tarnish remover. Yup, shiny as a copper penny and polished silver.

[Justin]

There's a nice kozuka in Claude Thuault's book 'Kozuka 100' with a french family crest engraved on the back. Page 95. Can post a picture if anyone is interested. Would probably devalue the kozuka, but the crest looks well carved and suits the style of the kozuka. As Thuault says '... this is also part of history'.

 

Cheers

Justin