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Gold Sword Knot For Field Grade Infantry/cavalry Officer Meiji Era


Johnny Barracuda

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Hello,

 

I am looking for a gold sword knot/tassel for an infantry officer field grade kyu gunto. See picture below.

 

One just escaped me on eBay last week end because I was away and I am rather put out about it. It was sold for $ 145.

 

I am proposing a purchase price of 150 to 250 dollars.

 

post-3192-0-25372900-1435081052_thumb.jpg

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best of luck, you should have put your hand deeper into you wallet. that was a very good buy for someone.

 

shingunto tassels for field grade are $500+, and taking into account that the earlier Kyu gunto tassel is much easer to damage compared to the shingunto tassel, I would say your going to have to wait a fair while before finding one for that price.

 

and if you do please let me know I would love to get one for that price.

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true they did have a long service history, but last time I was Japan I couldn't find any. and evan when asked for Kyu gunto I got a lot of odd looks.

evan  one store had all military stuff  stuffed into a umbrella stand with little care.

 

went to every sword/antique store known in Tokyo and surrounding districts and the only store with quality imperial era stock was the sword store in the antique mall Ginza, just near the train/subway station. great stuff but out of my price range

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During flea market days in temples and shrines, you can find some interesting stuff. Of course, discussing with sellers in broken English, one might have to praise the military might of Imperial Japan to facilitate transactions...  :doubt:  :doubt:  :doubt:

 

I agree on the surprised faces triggered by the kyu gunto question. However, a Japanese good friend told me that such swords are not widely known as "kyu gunto" in Japan but rather as type 1875/1886 or type 8/19 swords.

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Those are Meiji/Taisho era Army officer tassels, used until 1934, when the Army kyu gunto was replaced with the shin gunto.

 

The tassel you are pointing to is for company grade officers, i.e. from sub-lieutenant to captain. It is in great condition but overpriced. It should go for about 120 to 150 dollars.

 

The one I purchased has a stem after the acorn, it is the much rarer field grade tassel, from major to colonel.

 

There is a third one, the general grade tassel, which has the same stem as the field grade one, but is ball-shaped instead of being acorn-shaped. On early Meiji era general grade tassels, you can even find on the stem a number of stars corresponding to the rank of the general (brigadier general, major general, etc).

 

See examples of these three types of tassels put on dress swords on Ohmura san's site (they were also worn on full size kyu gunto) : http://ohmura-study.net/771.html (At the bottom, you will see an example of the Navy kyu gunto officer's tassel, which was the same for all ranks)

 

There are also variants of the above-mentioned, with a flat black strap instead of the golden rounded one, introduced in 1912, along with a more rugged completely black and ball-shaped one for combat situations, favoured by the Cavalry.

 

Again from Ohmura's treasure trove: http://ohmura-study.net/771.html

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You should have waited, because even at $250, it was overpriced by $100.

 

I was about to point you towards a website where you could have bought one for $125.

 

It was worse than that I discovered one of my friends had some and I could have had one for free. :laughing:

 

Which dealer has them listed for $125?

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I have one of these on a general grade kyugunto (turtle horn handle with full back strap decoration).  It appears not to be gold but have a rainbow/mother of pearl type color to it, although you can't see the colors in this photo.  Can anybody tell me what these go for?  I am completely in the dark about it and a friend is interested in the sword.  Cheers, Surf

 

 
 

post-620-0-29315000-1440073500_thumb.jpg

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in that condition, with out the blade only about $1000 USD, the knot is a different story, it appears to be a court/diplomatics tassel and wasn't made to go on a Gernerals Grade Kyu gunto.

 

theses tassels, is one of those things, could sell tomorrow tomorrow or it could be a year, findind some one who wants one is the key, they don't pop up oftern so prob about the 400-600 USD mark.

 

any one care to disscuss this ?

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If it is full size and not parade, I know I would be interested in the sword! A full-size general grade kyu gunto is rare indeed.

 

As for the sword knot, it was a rather common design during the second half of the 19th century: it could be Japanese (diplomatic as Hamish stated), German, or even from the American Civil War! However, Japanese diplomatic swords are not that popular and most ofter sold with their own knot. So I would value the said knot around $300 to $400.

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