"Fatal Flaws" on Tsuba?

[Martin]

Hi all,

 

I was just asking myself if some sort of "Fatal Flaws" also exist for Tsuba?

I recently saw an Owari Sukashi Tsuba that had a crack going all way through a Sukashi wall.

It was hardly noticable but may have led to a severe damage in a fight.

So are "Flaws" on Tsuba only considered from an aesthetical point of view (rust, nicks chips) or were there also Fatal Flaws in terms of functional defects?

 

cheers,

[pcfarrar]

Hi Martin,

 

The primary function of a tsuba is to stop your hand slipping onto the blade.

As many are iron, soft metal etc. they would offer little protection against a sword cut.

 

Peter

[Martin]

Hi Peter,

 

thanks for the fast reply.

 

I know about that as a primary function.

But would such a crack mean, that the Samurai maybe exchanged the Tsuba?

And how does this sort of damage influence its value as a collectible?

 

cheers

[Rich T]

Well in my own experience, tsuba with a crack that goes all the way through a sukashi section will fail shinsa under most circumstances, just like a sword. As to being fatal though, I think not.

 

A hagiri or crack in a sword that passes into or right through the yakiba and even worse, into the swords soft metal is fatal because a good blow against another sword could cause the sword to snap, with the swordsman finding himself in all sorts of trouble.

 

In regards to tsuba however, while it's true the crack might fail under the weight of a full blow, the tsuba's first purpose is to stop the hand from sliding on the sword, not to stop a sword hitting the hand. Whilst the later may be a by product of tsuba functionality, it is not it's first role. Think of the many very early tsuba that were made from leather plates and lacquer. Would they have stopped the full weight of a tachi if hand protection was the fundamental role ?.

 

I think also, a crack in a tsuba may fail if struck but I wonderful the whole tsuba would fail ???

 

In regards to aesthetics, sword cuts and the likes are seen by many collectors as points of interest, a window into history. It's all about your point of view I guess. Personally, I would prefer old items in excellent condition. Cuts and bumps may be interesting for a little while, but then I find I tier of these flaws very quickly.

 

Just my humble opinion.

 

Cheers

 

Richard

 

EDIT: I see you knew this Martin, sorry for rambling. In response to your second half of the question. Swords and tsuba were expensive to samurai, and perhaps, unless on a higher pay, a normal samurai would put up with this crack for as long as he could ?.

 

Just a thought.

[Henry Wilson]

I heard somewhere that there might have been a tendency to melt a tsuba down and re-us the metal to make another tsuba which explains why there are not that many battle damaged tsuba around.

 

Can anyone agree with this?

 

At the link below, the first tsuba (Nobuie) has a sword cut from a cutting test

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/ono.htm

[WoodbridgeGaijin]

I heard somewhere that there might have been a tendency to melt a tsuba down and re-us the metal to make another tsuba which explains why there are not that many battle damaged tsuba around.

 

Henry, was this done with tsubas of higher metallurgical value or iron tsubas as well?

[Henry Wilson]

Hi Mr Woodbridge

 

If my remark can be in anyway verified I would dare say that is was a case by case situation depending on the owner. I would imagine that iron tsuba would have been used more in battle as opposed to finer items containing lots of precious materials, so they would have been more likely recycled.

 

Just my thoughts though