Ford Hallam

Hi mark, ...the first and most obvious give-away is the fact that these are made of an obviously brassy type alloy. While this is not totally unknown in genuine antique work you'd be hard pressed to find one, especially in such a "generic/average" sort of design. Brass is cheap... and easy to cast today. It's use in genuine uchidashi work ( the process used to make genuine menuki ) is very rare indeed. The next thing to look at is the crispness of the work. You need to see the difference between legitimate smoothing of the sharp edges due to age ( ie handling... and menuki don't really get handled all that much if you come to think about it ) and the sort of blurring of crisp detail that results when the item is cast from a wax replica which comes from a rubber mould taken from a genuine piece. The steps in this process leave signs ( basic degradation of detail being most notable) that are unmistakable to anyone with professional experience of this sort of technology. The final obvious feature from the photos is the relative thickness of the metal. Traditionally made menuki are made from sheet that is usually about 1.2 mm thick to begin with. In this case the final finish seems quite chunky...and the inside of the back has the sort of typical smoothed out surface of a casting. A genuine, uchidashi piece will display far more relationship between the front and the back. hope some of this helps a little bit. regards, Ford

to be honest these look like cast copies to me... . I don't like them at all, they fail to convince me they were hand made. The green patina actually adds to my suspicion. Sorry, just my opinion.

I'll second the comment by Mariusz that the tsuba looks to be a repro, cast jobbie . That in conjunction with the poor tsuka-maki ( as was also pointed out by peter ) makes me wonder if the tsuka isn't a put together job. The rust on the nakago looks odd to me also...but that may just be the photos. You've got decent, old black rust which is as it should be, but also what looks like active red rust. I wonder if the nakago wasn't over-cleaned when the blade was scrubbed and an attempt has been made to repatinate the tang. Personally I'd move it on asap and set my sights a little higher. No point throwing good money after bad. Sorry to be so blunt about it but I don't believe it helpful to sugar the pill. It doesn't really matter that it only cost $750...poor quality remains poor quality even if it's free. The level you have suggested you're at is also greatly irrelevant....if you genuinely can't see the difference in material quality between this blade and some of the more reasonable offerings available on-line from reputable dealers then I don't think any amount of study will fix that. I think you may be kidding yourself. If you are genuinely interested in learning about Nihonto then I'd suggest finding out what makes them so special. learning a little about the different aspects of the blade and develop an appreciation of which types appeal to you, personally. Then, armed with a better understanding of what constitutes reasonable quality and your own informed taste you might stand a good chance of finding a blade that will truly reward your efforts. As has been pointed out, decent quality will cost some decent money. You will get what you pay for so aiming to spend as little as possible will rarely yield a blade worth treasuring. regards, Ford

As Guido said, properly patinated shakudo ( as yours appear to be ) is unaffected by any solvents, like alcohol, thinners, acetone etc. When silver ( generally fine, or pure in traditional work) turns black ( through the action of sulphides in the air, it doesn't actually oxidise naturally) this black layer eventually flakes off due to differences in rates of expansion, leaving a frosted, corroded silver surface which appears dead white. Come to think of it, the fact that this seems to be the case here probably means the silver is okigane and not plating. That's a thin sheet ( perhaps .5mm thick ) of pure silver soldered to the shakudo base just where the blossoms are. If you can establish that this is the case then the following steps are safe to follow...if not then don't do it! The black silver sulphide layer is actually harder than the underlying fine silver but very careful rubbing with a toothpick and a tiny amount of chrome polishing paste will safely remove it and restore a bit of gloss to the silver. Take great care to avoid patinated metal though. When done clean off all traces of the polishing paste with alcohol and then in warm soapy water give them a gentle scrub with a toothbrush. Dry well and re-wax using Renaissance wax. Apply sparingly and buff gently with a very clean cloth or kitchen tissue. Hope this helps. Ford

This Akasaka example is what led my thinking astray

Hi Rich, I didn't mean to denigrate Shoami at all, rather, my disappointment was due to the rather vague label. As I implied..."when in doubt say Shoami", in the sense that the designation can be so broad as to be almost meaningless when applied to works that are so "uncharacteristic" of any specific Shoami group. I'm left feeling none the wiser as why this might be termed Shoami. regards, Ford

Thanks Reinhard, I quite enjoyed this exercise. I find the attribution of Shoami a bit of a let down though, it seems increasingly to be the default setting; "when in doubt say Shoami" :D Do they indicate any particular Shoami group or period? regards, Ford

One thing about this design strikes me and that is the deliberate vagueness, or abstraction of some of the elements. What I mean is while some of the aspects are very clear as to what they are, the geese, the temple etc, ... the moon is only just there...it wouldn't be difficult to imagine it slightly more visible and complete yet the maker has clearly and deliberately only included just enough to make it recognisable. The remainder of the elements remain more obscure though. This makes me think that there was a certain kind of intellectual game being played here...one where the maker is showing certain scenes but making them vague enough so as to provide something of a puzzle for the viewer...as sort of "all things to all men" approach. This strikes me as a particularly urban game...perhaps a little trivial compared to the more prosaic concerns of battle hardened warriors. I wonder if this could tell us something about it's origin and who it was intended for. I also came across this much later version of the same subject. It's far more literal and it's obvious what all the elements are. The image comes from the Tokyo national Museum collection catalogue.

...it was a joke All these tsuba are clearly genuine ...c'mon, where's that famous German sense of humour :D

well...it's obvious then...they're all Chinese fakes

The rectangular shape of the left hand side hitsu is apparently nudging some opinions away from Akasaka. I'd just like to point out that in fact while it's not terribly common there are a number of examples of similar squarish shapes to be found in the work of the first 4 masters. I'm personally still comfortable with my call although I'll admit that trying to pin it specifically to Tadatoki I might be pushing it as his work is generally a bit more sophisticated. This tsuba does have a certain ruggedness about it and the pierced web of the plate is unusually plain for him. To my eye, although the design does seem a bit "busy", ( as I think John mentioned) it is quite delicately cut out with no areas not having been carefully considered in terms of shape and arrangement. The overall texture of the iron ( it's relative coarseness compared to the refinement of later Akasaka steel ) and the fact that Reinhard tells us the edge shows faint layering further convinces me this work is from the earlier period of Akasaka production so I'll stick with no later than 4th master.

This looks to me to be the work of the 4th generation Akasaka master, Tadatoki I ( died 1746 ) This, very characteristic, chiselled bevel on the inner edge of the rim is something I've seen in his work before. Just my shot in the dark regards, Ford

what?!...so you're saying I'm full of sh1T ....he he, won't be the first time

Whoa!...bummer Dude! hey Mark...you've been "owned"

Could this be "Iai-face"?

Looks Japanese to me. Tail end of the Edo period..imo. Pretty good condition too.

what appear to be non functioning hinges are merely clever rivet joints. The maker evidently chose to make a feature of the join. He could very easily made an "invisible" join by soldering those pieces on. Perhaps this method of joining was inspired by a detail on a piece of European armour he's seen. But the choice is definitely an aesthetic one.

Hi Dirk To me it seems clear this is made from 2 coins. A simple half lap joint silver-soldered together. Fairly straightforward for a skilled craftsman. I think the edge was probably filed with that slanting pattern after it was joined as I doubt that was on the original coins. I particularly like the clever use of the left over rim bits to form the outline of the ryo-hitsu Very intriguing and appealing piece, congrats, regards, Ford

ok...so this is what I've gleaned from this tale of woe.... Kevin, ...you're a lucky, lucky bastard ....and you probably deserve all the aggravation officialdom deigns to rain on you :D ...at least enough so that the rest of us don't feel jealous which is , I suspect the whole point of your tale :D so....for being so effective here;s a beer

We're back...

thanks Brian. Lorenzo reckons we'll be back in the game by this time tomorrow and without any losses to the database, which was the biggest concern. Details on my blog Thanks everyone for your patience ...normal ( whatever that might be! ) service will be resumed shortly. Regards, Ford

I can personally recommend both Mick Hicks ( Maidstone in Kent ) and Richard Adams ( Tonbridge in Kent ) Pm me if you need their phone numbers. cheers, Ford

stylised waves...methinks

To be frank chaps, I think trying to judge the standard of a polish based on such poor images ( sorry Shan ) is bit like appraising wine while it's still in the bottle. Perhaps the discussion would more helpfully be about how to improve the photo's :D