Question About Use Of Antiques

[manfrommagnum]

I have read on one board of a person melting down authentic nihon pre 1800 tsuba that they deem unworthy to use as raw material to make their own. I have also seen menuki on ebay that were converted to cufflinks. This sort of thing makes me cringe, buy I wondered what the thoughts of other collectors are...

 

..your thoughts? MIKE

[Toryu2020]

cufflinks can be made out of crap menuki without damaging them

make sure your jeweller knows what he is doing. Melting down swords and tsuba is another thing, in most cases I would not condone it.

-t

[Fuuten]

I forgot the title, but in one documentary, a smith used old nails from a temple that was being reconstructed to create a sword with the old iron. The idea being the same, as nails don't have a lot of artistic value i think everyone would see this as a positive. To recreate something new from the old material and offer it to the shrine.

 

Tsuba, like swords, like everything, i think its a touchy subject. How ugly or badly made does a tsuba need to be to qualify? I think with tsuba being designed by someone in the past is worth keeping as is, but then again, i don't know where this person got the tsuba from, why he's doing it etc etc.

 

Kinda difficult

[nagamaki - Franco]

There is, was, an antique dealer out of Binghamton NY who used to show up at local antique shows that always had a number of tosogu pieces converted to jewelry, bracelets, necklace, rings. When asked he said there were jewelers in NYC that regularly made these conversions. Although I did not see any mainline pieces some of the pieces were once pretty good, too bad.

[Kevin Adams]

Any chance of a link to the discussion board in question? It's difficult to comment on this topic - converting tosogu to jewellery is very different from melting them in a furnace.

[manfrommagnum]

Thanks everyone

 

MIKE

[Kurikata]

Just for fun 

 

http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Japanese-CANDLESTICK-katana-tsuba-NINJA-SAMURAI/121979125427?_trksid=p2047675.c100037.m2107&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140513073955%26meid%3D03161cf04895460b88271b5db4e616ff%26pid%3D100037%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D23%26sd%3D351716384929

[Ron STL]

This makes me recall visiting an elderly lady whose husband would take kogai and wrap them around a form to make bracelets out of them. Fortunately, this kind of "reuse" was done on very average/low quality fittings for the most part.

Ron STL

[Kurikata]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Japanese-DARUMA-Shakudo-FUCHI-Kashira-in-Silver-RING-Size-5-/272237445819?hash=item3f629dc2bb:g:YTsAAOSwcL5XMATC

 

Annother silly re-use.....

[ggil]

A member of our sword club, likes mounting kashira as necklace pendants.  She (yes this is a way for another member to get his wife more fired up about nihonto) collects what look to be medium and high quality pieces, but they look to me modified in a non-destructive way (done by a professional jeweler).  there appears to be a right way (jeweler who is aware they are working with high value art that isn't to be modified) and a wrong way to go about making jewelry out of sword fittings.  Tom can chime in as he actually knows everyone's name in the club, and I haven't attended meeting (or paid dues, damn) in forever.