cleaning " inside " of the iron sukashi tsuba

[Bungo]

here's one example of " what not to wear "...........

 

inside the sukashi has been thoroughly cleaned and in one stroke eliminated a vital clue as to the proer age of this otherwise fine tsuba.

 

I checked and there's no tell tale casting seams.

I rubbed with ivory and bring back some " appearance of rust " ( before it's very clean and sort of shiny.)

 

So, is it " modan " ? late Edo ? mid Edo ? early Edo ?

 

milt THE ronin

[Stephen]

is that some kind of zodiac?

[Bungo]

is that some kind of zodiac?

 

like duhhhhhhhhhhhhh, count 'em......... all twelve. :lol:

 

milt THE ronin

[Stephen]

what is each symbol and who's zodiac...??

[Nobody]

From 12 o'clock, clockwise, 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥.

 

Ref. http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/kanshi.html

[kusunokimasahige]

I do not think it is modern, i think it is pre-edo.

 

I say this due to the fact i have seen a lot of ancient Iron artefacts, not only Japanese, during my Archaeology studies, also cleaned in this way.

 

you can get more info from the rust-pitting, carving marks (saw marks, file marks) etcetera, maybe you could consult someone who specializes in Tsuba.

 

You could also check themes used for Tsuba during the Japanese history, and try to find another similar example of this type.

 

regds,

 

KM

 

keep us posted!