Hokke

Looks like a thin film peeling off the blade. Doesn't looked chromed to me but more likely polished with compound and wheel. For $895, like others said.....hard pass is the right choice

Dreadful? Soooo.....youre a suguha guy? Not judging, just curious in your choice of adjective.

I agree, to me those lines look like ware, rather than just a colored wrinkle.....not a very good picture though

Exactly, new papers are only *new papers* until they aren’t. In 2075, the papers of today will be ancient and this conversation will remain ongoing.

I agree, if authenticity is the only parameter, new papers would be of little benefit in your case. However, if condition is a parameter, old papers have less value since they reflect condition at the time of evaluation only.

Precisely……because people will always prefer to keep a big name, regardless of origami age. Plenty of folks out there buying nihonto who just need *something* on paper, regardless of the color or age. The flip side of that is when someone has old papers with a lesser attribution, but good reason to believe that modern papers would attribute it higher. Those folks are the first in line for new papers.

It seems to me that all this back and forth really boils down to one common denominator……value. Anyone owning a blade with blue papers is fine, no problems, just know that if a day comes when that blade is up for sale, the price may reflect the absence of modern papers. You can argue up, down and sideways until you are blue in the face, but nihonto, like every other art, is only worth what someone is willing to pay. Conditions change, judges change, conceptions change and as such, attributions can change…….

Yep, that would be my guess.....looks over function

When I have contacted Markus in the past he was always prompt in his response. However, I never contacted him during the holidays, so please be patient if it takes a bit.

Im not disagreeing with you Jean, I have little doubt these were produced recently for tourists and those unfamiliar with traditional techniques. My only point was that Japan is not immune from producing items for a buck, or yen as it were. There is no rule I am aware of in Japan, which states any tsuba produced within the state must be traditional and functional. Often times we romanticize people and cultures for one thing or another, but in this day and age, its money and wealth that drive most people, even in a country like Japan, so rich in history.

Greetings Jean, I read your post very carefully which is why I initially posed my follow up question. My only goal was to make sure I had not missed an obvious feature that would have made the origin of these tsuba absolute. So it is possible these were manufactured in Japan, not to be "good", as you put it, but rather quite simply, because there seems to be a market for them.

Oh ok, so it isn't because you see a specific characteristic that indicates another country of manufacture. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. While I agree with you on the quality when compared to historic examples, in today's Japan, I cant be so sure that there are ZERO producers of this level of work. After all, if there is a market, a sale is a sale.

Interesting....what do you see that makes you believe they cant be made in Japan?

I wouldn't go so far as to say it is horrible, although I don't know to which Colin was referring, but I would say simply not representative of what can be achieved when made traditionally. That said, $2600 for 8oz of silver in this configuration is....optimistic, to say the least. Still potential for a good bit of work there, I dont see any obvious signs of casting, but the pictures arent great either. Has anyone taken a crack at the hakogaki?

Perfect, thank you the clarification.