Hokke

That is exceptional work, very clean and precise. I would love to pick your brain in the future if I ever attempt this.

Hey Sam, one more quick thought if you ever have the chance to ask Brian in the future. Your original question to him regarded bohi, but what about blades with sohi? I’m curious if both grooves are cut, is that actually for utility or more to demonstrate the skill of the artist. Presumably fitting the seppa to one groove would be more than adequate to service its purpose, but that very much is a presumption on my part.

That would be fantastic is you find one. I would be very interested to see the depth of the seppa into the hi. Presumable it would not need to bottom out in order to serve its purpose.

That is what I assumed just wanted to clarify because it piques my interest as well. As someone who has made seppa in the past, I am now super curious as to the method by which this is done. Although I have never done a specific search for this type of seppa, it is certainly not common so far as I have seen. So glad you thought to ask him that question, it’s given me a new project to explore.

Hey Sam, when you asked Brian that question, what did you mean by adhere? Were you asking if the sepia needed to be shaped to where they would extend into the hi?

I’m really happy that Fords videos are still up and available for people to see. To be a highly regarded craftsman in your field is one thing, having the patience and vocabulary to teach your craft in a meaningful way is something else entirely.

Don't be ridiculous Alex, that isn't honey, thats historical lubricant.......no one knows where it came from, but they have done radiation scans on it to verify because radiation apparently tells EVERYTHING

Just my opinion, but I suspect this entire inquiry was based on ulterior motives, its just too peculiar. Time will tell of course, but I would hazard a guess this item will be seen listed for sale at some point sooner than later.

Hey Brian, just for clarity, when you say only fakes should be pictured here, does that mean there should be no comparison photos to authentic? I think it’s better that way so there is no confusion, very simply EVERY picture in this section is fake, period. If further comparison is needed, maybe only links should be provided?

Ok, fair enough, I understand your position on this piece. That said, the one issue I have is that your explanation is only of utility when it "has" to be. If ALL tsuba were made in this way, where detail was purposely left out, then it would be a non-conversation. But I dont see that, not even for a specific time period or production house. So the idea that ANYTIME you see work like this, the explanation MUST be "room for thoughts and emotion", I find that dubious. Please understand I am not saying you are wrong, your explanation is certainly plausible, what i am saying is that your hypothesis is no more "right" than mine, because at the end of the day neither of us were there at the time it was produced. Some time ago I had a customer who presented me with a ring where the inside was devoid of any finishing work. Course file marks were obvious but only if you looked in the ring, otherwise they could not be seen when the ring was worn. I asked the customer if she had noticed these, to which she replied she had. She went on to say that when she brought it to the attention of the jeweler he simply referred to them as "jeweler marks". This tsuba is of particular note to me for that reason. There seems to exist a fine line between purpose and excuse.

That was a fine statement, if a bit ambiguous to the question of why the pierced portions of the tsuba lack detail. How exactly did we move to paintings exactly? If you question to me was actual, my answer is I dont have the first damn clue, I was unaware paintings were cast. Otherwise you are talking about a completely different genre of artwork.

While I am unfamiliar with the casting of iron, I am familiar with casting in general. On the one hand, I can see Dans point of view. He is skeptical that someone would only partially "finish" this tsuba. So many lines on that tsuba are nice and clean, but the holes are clearly crude. The problem with this idea is that if all the other lines of the tsuba are nice and crisp from the casting method, there is no reason why the holes he referenced wouldn't also be nice and clean. One would have to assume that the original mold would have to be poorly cut in order to produce a poor casting. So then the question would be, why would a craftsman go to the trouble of producing such clean lines in some parts of the mold and not others? It seems reasonable to me that what we have here is a an "unfinished" tsuba. Not unfinished as in incomplete, but unfinished with respect to the level of the finishing process. This could have been for a variety of reasons like cost, time, customer request or injury.

This is a sweet piece, I wish you were in the US. Hope it finds a good home.

Good to hear, I hope that is the standard and not just a mistake on someone in customs. We'll see what happens when mine comes in.

Although I would call this damage more of a "nick" than a chip, it will likely have to be removed the same way, with a polish. As mentioned by Adam, I have a hard time believing this damage was caused by shipping, UNLESS, the saya is improperly fit. Looks to me like someone bumped this blade up against something hard. This may have happened after the sale pictures were taken or at some point after you removed the blade from its saya. To answer your question, it may not be worth the expense to repair this minor damage if the cost of the polish is higher than the difference in cost between what you paid and what you can sell it for. I personally would just enjoy this piece as the damage is minor and worry about values when/if it comes time to sell it.

This is disheartening, but a needed warning, particularly to those just starting in this field of study. My question is this, how do you react when you encounter a Japanese replica being offered as authentic. Seems to me there are a couple options, but each has its own consequences. Let’s assume the seller is unaware their item(s) is a forgery. Not only is it bad for them because they were duped, but if other customers are around to hear the conversation, they may choose to stay away from everything the seller is offering. So, the other option is you inform the seller privately. But what if they are knowingly selling these fakes. This is impossible to know unless they already have a reputation which is unlikely, otherwise I would hope they would be denied the ability to participate in the show. They will act as if they are surprised and shocked, but when you leave they continue to pedal their wares to unsuspecting customers. So unless you become a sales cop and monitor the table it’s possible that forgeries will be sold at a legitimate show. This is not feasible so the problem remains. At the end of the day I understand caveat emptor rules the day. It’s the responsibility of each of us to be as informed if we want to make safe purchases. But I also know this field of study is a relatively small group and if enough fraud permeates it’s way in, fewer and fewer people will be interested, which isn’t good for anyone.

I would say that coin has two sides. It seems reasonable that yes, a smaller canvas will make any flaws and messy work more noticeable, however, the smaller the work area, presumably the easier it is to create a billet without flaws. It’s very much like a diamond. It’s very easy to find smaller diamonds that are flawless than it is larger, which is why two flawless 1ct diamonds will never be as valuable as a flawless 2ct. More area, whether it be steel, canvas or mineral, the higher likelihood for flaws. Additionally, it is far less time consuming to scrap a billet and start over on a small piece of steel than one which has been drawn out daito length.

At the end of the day I think it all comes back to charging what people will pay versus a scale based on attributes contained within in a length and weight. Im not saying thats right or wrong, just how it seems to me. Imagine though if nihonto had specific pricing based on the total length an attribute was present. Yikes

I knew I should have gone to that show

Perhaps, although I would expect to see even the slightest hints of a coppery color, if only faint.

The color doesn't bother me too much, I see silver this color all the time on 17th and 18th century treasure coins we find here in FL. Like you though, im more focused on the level of craftsmanship, given the likely cost of this tsuba if it were made from silver. The design looks stamped and not with great attention given to detail.

Interesting, just out of curiosity, how was the jeweler able to determine it was silver? Was he able to scan it with XRF and if so, what was the actual composition of this piece?

I dont believe so, just a perk of being the king. The was another matching dagger to the one posted only it was made from gold. Everywhere gold........this boy king was smothered in gold and riches. While gold was obviously coveted, glass was one of the other luxury treasures owned by this king that is often overlooked based on how common glass is in modern society.

well yes and no. Sure, gold will always be gold and as such carry value. However, investment gold is generally bullion. Anything fashioned from gold will never carry anywhere close to the premium of bullion unless its of historical or artistic value.

There are two ways to go about this and it would appear you are already leaning. There are basically two types of collectors. First, there are those with a deep appreciation of the history of nihonto. Then there are those who just want something they find visually appealing and the specifics of the blade are secondary. Based on your comment above, it would seem you are the latter. Absolutely nothing wrong with this type of collector and it makes your decision somewhat easy I would think. The question is, can you afford it? If the answer is yes, then you have to ask yourself, am I ok with taking a considerable loss on this purchase in the future? If the answer is yes, then it seems you have found something to add to your collection, easy peasy. Sometimes we just want what we want, regardless of the advice of others. We've all been there at some point in our lives, myself included. Good Luck with your purchase