Koi tsuba - Pretty nice I think?

[tokashikibob]

Fellas,

Haven't posted in awhile since all I've handled have been Showto for quite awhile. This Tsuba showed up with a bunch of asian pottery. Any opinions on era, quality? Thank you in advance for your opine!

 

Semper Fi,

Bob

http://www.okinawarelics.com

[BMarkhasin]

Chinese fake. Painful. Sorry...

 

Boris.

[Soshin]

Hi Bob,

 

I think old Umetada Myoju and Myoshin are turning over in his graves at the looks of that poor tsuba. It is a modern Chinese fake and a really poor one at that. I hope you didn't pay much for it. It is worth next to nothing and should be recycled for the brass.

[Marius]

David,

 

this is not made of brass, just some cheap alloy.

[Soshin]

David,

 

this is not made of brass, just some cheap alloy.

 

Hi Mariusz K.,

 

So you saying it is likely not even worth recycling.

Any ideas what the alloy of these cheap tsuba reproduction coming from China? I purposefully didn't use any of the Japanese alloy terms and just said "brass" in my reply. They are all over eBay. I am thinking it could be a copper base alloy.

[Ford Hallam]

They look like cast brass to me. And brass is a relatively cheap alloy....with a copper base. So both David and Mariusz are right...in a roundabout way :D

 

I'd estimate these cast fakes to be under 200 grams in weight so the brass cost them less than $1.40 (they would have used scrap metal). To sell as these fakes as scrap brass I'd suggest collecting at least 5 and then you'd get about $1.50 from your local scrap metal dealer.

[Stephen]

big Koi fan, anyone one have pix of great Koi tsuba, on the hunt.

[Dick Tait]

big Koi fan, anyone one have pix of great Koi tsuba, on the hunt.

http://www.nihonto.com.au/html/tsu460_man_riding_carp_tsuba.html

[Ed]

I thought this one pretty nice, but got outbid.

 

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21101/lot/262/?page_anchor=MR1_page_lots%3D27%26r1%3D10%26m1%3D1%26b1%3Dlist

[Brian]

Don't worry Bob, many of us have been fooled by worse tsuba I am sure. It's all part of the learning process, and not an expensive lesson here.

In a few months you'll be callling these instantly as you see them.

 

Brian

[Stephen]

Nice one Dick, Ed thats the ticket!!! now ill be looking for it, maybe have Ford do me one LOL...wishes were horses....dang

[dirk marshall]

carp tsuba Jingo style

[Stephen]

Dirk nice one as well, pretty jaded after the one Ed showed...

[Alex A]

Ed, at that price i think most of us would have been outbid , cool tsuba, im a koi fan too.

 

Alex.

[tokashikibob]

Fellas,

Thanks for all the keen schooling! I didn't buy it, I just get to help get stuff ready at a couple country auctions once in awhile, so I can bid on it when it comes up since I'm just a floor helper. Sometimes I do all right with old Imari vases and plates and chinese pottery sometimes not :lol: I was hoping it was a art piece but there's always next auction!

 

Semper Fi,

Bob

http://www.okinawarelics.com

[rkg]

What has always mystified me about these klunkers is what the producers' intended market is - is it the legion of fake Japanese sword makers, people who buy to resell to rubes, or....? There seems to be this huge (and increasing) variety of these available, and...

 

Best,

 

rkg

(Richard George)