To clean or not to clean?????????

[novice]

Need some more help chaps,i have just got a really nice jisukashi tsuba,made from brass,(edo period i think) thing is i want to mount it on a wakizashi i have,now it has that nice golden brown yellowy patina that brass gets after a few years of neglect,so do i celan it and put it on or do i leave it the way it is and still stick her on?I was thinking if i did clean it,i would like to leave the cut out sections that have verdegris intact though,( you know the part tht would have been filed.

[Bungo]

a pic would help.............

 

soft metal are extremely hard to patinate to the desired color so I would say proceed with extreme caution.

Cary C. once said........ only gaijins like things shiny.

 

milt THe ronin

[novice]

Here is the tsuba Milt,see half of me says leave it but the other half says,it should be cleaned to go onto my nihonto,any self respecting samurai would not have a dirty tsuba maybe a Ronin but not a Samurai...( only joking Milt)

[Rich T]

DO NOT CLEAN

 

can I be any clearer. Cleaning will devalue the tsuba to worthless immediately. It will destroy the patina and your guard will look like S%^T and be ruined.

 

Do not also think that the patina is the result of years of neglect. It is a vvry deliberate process that was started and created at the time of the tsuba's making.

 

Milt is correct, only gaijin like to clean things. It is why 90% of Onin and Heianjo guards in the west are in such poor condition. People can't help themselfs making stuff shinney.

 

Leasve it alone, it is not dirty, it is as it should be. ANd please give samurai more credit for having taste. They were not all spit and polish you know.

 

cheers

 

Rich

[novice]

Thanks Richard,( the self respecting samurai was a leg puller for milt),i was not sure whether to leave it or not,hence the question,you lot have years of collecting these under your belts so i will leave it the way it is,i must say the patination i enjoy,had no idea this was done intentionally.

[Bungo]

what the f&^%$#@ !!

Tsuba looks good, like the wabi/sabi lovin' daimyo said............ leave it freakin' alone.

 

milt THE ronin

[novice]

Many thanks Milt,what era would you say,(am i right in saying edo)

w

[Brian]

What Rich said.

Do not clean.

If you ask any antiques collector (in almost any field) they will tell you that the biggest mishap that can happen to any antique, ever..is cleaning by non-professionals. This goes for all fittings. Leave it to the guys who are experts. I have heard of people cleaning off what they think is paint on old tsuba..removing the intentional laquer layer that was put there.

 

If someone would like to write a short post titled "Do Not Clean" or similar...I will make it a sticky at the top of this forum as a warning to newcommers in the future.

 

Brian