Duel Battle Worn Tsuba?

[dominnimod]

Recently got this tsuba from Japan pretty cheap, was like 8 dollar free shipping, i placed the initial bid to watch it, and to my surprise 1 week later i happened to be the only bidder and winner.

 

The tsuba itself seems to be a thick owari sukashi tsuba heavily rusted with a silver mimi (with a very dark patina)

 

On the listing it was clear that there was damage on the silver covering, however, it was when it got in my hands upon closer inspection that

i discovered that interestingly, the damage were on the omote side, 2 light cuts and 1 deep cut, , and the cut on the silver isn't shiny, there is patina to it. Note that the mimi from the opposite side is intact.

What do you think? Could it be a tsuba used in combat? Maybe excavated? Or simply mistreated?

 

[ROKUJURO]

José,

with that age of the TSUBA I could well imagine that it has seen battle situations. Look for KIRIKOMI on TSUBA, you will find others with similar 'scars'.

Concerning the condition of your TSUBA, I am not very surprised that there were no more bidders! Unfortunately it has been sitting quite a while in a moist environment, so that there is not much iron left. I see no way to restoring it, I am afraid. Take it as a piece of history!    

[dominnimod]

I see, also, i guess it's impossible to say for sure what caused the damage, i will check kirikomi on tsuba,

yes, it's in relic condition, no way of bringing it back, but i like it,has an special charm to it