Kozuka, An Important Matter In The Air.

[sisifo]

Hi friends

 

something unexpected happened, yesterday I was talking to my girlfriend about what happened with my first Tsuba purchased in zen-gallery, and she confessed to me that she had bought a gift for my birthday it is is in November), she bought me a kozuka. 

 

Can you imagine where she bought it? yes, zen-gallery, now the big question is, is a genuine piece or other reproduction?

 

excuse me if I do not stop to ask your opinion,

 

 

http://www.ebay.es/itm/B9211-Japanese-Samurai-Edo-Antique-Nami-zu-Great-Signed-Kozuka-handle-/221889521971?hash=item33a9a56933

 

 

Greetings

Eloy

[Brian]

I think it is a real kozuka. Gimei of course.....Omori would have cost 20 times that amount and quality would have been mindblowing.

What concerns me is that it looks like the whole thing was gold electroplated?

Not sure....but I think underneath that gold plating lies an ok kozuka. Usually these would be in shakudo with little gold dots inlayed. But the fact that everything is gold coloured makes me think it is either all made of one material, or it is all plated.

Neither one a good thing. I think the undercutting points away from a casting...but I am reluctant to believe this is how it was intended. Someone out there thinks that Westerners want everything bright and gold and bling.

 

PS - You have a very kind and generous girlfriend. Hang on to her

(That price could have gotten vastly better kozuka from members here or dealers on the forum)

[sisifo]

Hi Brian 

 

thank you very much for your quick reply, can you give me information about how to locate those sellers of which you speak? (never more in ebay).

 

Yes!! my girl is wonderfull :-) 

 

greetings 

[DirkO]

http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/links.html

[Curran]

As Brian said, Omori Teruhide is a very famous name.

 

His wave themed designs were very popular.

Because of this, there were many imitations of his work with unauthentic signature (90 to 95% are copies. That is just a guess-estimate by me.)

Some of the copies are *extremely* good work where many people want to believe the signature is authentic, but NBTHK or NTHK will not verify it as consistent with other authentic signatures.

Other copies: varying degrees of quality.

 

Again as Brian said- authentic Omori Teruhide tend to be very expensive:  http://www.nihonto.com/5.10.12.html

[b.hennick]

Love the treatment of the moon in that tsuba! It is better in person than in the photos.

[nagamaki - Franco]

"Bad swords hurt your eyes", tosogu too!  Eye drops, where are my eye drops!

[Brian]

Franco,

I don't think it would be nearly as bad in hand, without that thick gold "plate"?

The photography is horrible, out of focus and blurred. If this was in shakudo with slight gold highlights, I think it would look a lot better. Would be interested in knowing if Ford or the other metalworkers here think this is gold plated. If so....seems someone is a serial plater, as this is happening to more and more fittings out of Japan. The seller or........??

[kusunokimasahige]

If you know what to look for, sometimes. And I repeat, sometimes, Zen Gallery has something.

But I personally would not go there.

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello Brian,

 

Thick gold plate? I see a lot of copper with a thin layer of what looks like gold, but if it is it looks to be very low content, imo. 

Would be interested in hearing what Ford had to say as to how the front plate was made? Cast? Molded? Followed by some hand work? 

 

I do understand the attraction, temptation, when we come across "copies" of a master's work. But before we give in to our weaknesses, we should at least research what the "real thing" looks like before making a decision. A big part of buying pieces whether original or copies , imo, is how closely does the piece in question match in materials and there quality used (gold, shakudo, shibuichi). If quality is not there it's time to move on. And while access to actual pieces for reference and study may be limited, those (coffee table) books are generally readily available. 

 

Eloy, in the end it's the thought that counts.

[Brian]

I was only thinking of thick plate because of how "blobby" it looks in places. As though it was thickly plated losing sharp definition and edges. Photos are horrid though. I still think it is a standard Omori copy of low to average quality, but dunked in electroplate. But am just as likely to be completely wrong.

[SwordGuyJoe]

Regardless of the above commentary on your item, you sure have a cool girlfriend!