Yahoo auction kozuka find

[BjornLundin]

Hi,

 

I missed a tsuba but got a kozuka. I got my emotions get the best of me. Hahaha Im totally not following how to collect nihonto advices and just follow my heart  Not good for my wallet.

 

So please tell me the bad news. Fake or ok. I paid 15000 yen o.O

How is it made, carved? if so there is quite a lot of 3D texture here. Any guess of school.

 

I am dreaming a bit that it was a quite good piece once, but wear and tear has taken away the smaller details of the stuff on the highest point. I am totally in awe of all the details they could make in such a small form factor. 

 

Love the horses, it looks to be a a river where the horses gets to have a bath. First, I thought of Japan war in Korea, forcing horses over a river. 

 

All the best

 

Björn

 

 

[Bob M.]

Hi Bjorn ,

 

 Thought I would reply with a few thoughts -

 

 The fact that you have not had any replies to your post , says that it is difficult to make an honest opinion from the pictures . I do feel however that if the kozuka is real or not , it will prove to be a little disappointing .

 

I may be completely wrong , but it reminds me of the kozuka that were made to be fitted with a western style knife blade and were produced in large numbers to the same pattern , often being pressed from sheet metal.

 

I am glad you have not paid a lot of money - please take a little time to look at something like the Aoi site ( link in the commercial 2 column on NMB frontpage )  - I have just seen , for instance , item nos. F20694 & F19411 , which although a bit more expensive are the real thing and would be more satisfactory as a start for a collection. There are lots of other dealers to look at also - Aoi just happen to have a wide variety of pieces at pretty reasonable prices in my opinion.

 

Best of Luck !

 

Regards

[Bugyotsuji]

Wise advice from Bob. Can we see the ends too, please? 

[BjornLundin]

Thank you Bob! 

 

No one, wants to bring the bad news 👍

 

I think you are right that it may be pressed. I think I see by shining light, that the metal is negative hollow in the opposite side. Or is that just a technique for making the shape. There are one part of gold wire missing in the horse rope, and I can see the recession were it was. So I think there have been some hands on work on it.

 

I dont know if it for a western knife, it looks to be made to fit a kogatana and fits my only kogatana quite well. Do anyone have some pictures how these western knifes would have looked like it looks like now? Where these made after meiji restoration or second half of 20th?

 

Still, if it is pressed it is ok for me. It is a nice piece and totally ok to have one of these types also. 😋. Next one will be more in focus to complement my other fittings. Knowledge is best experienced in hand. Still hurts a bit but it is what one could expect.

 

Missed to take picture of the other end.

 

Ty all 

 

Björn

[BjornLundin]

The other side.

[PietroParis]

I recall that the pseudo-kozuka for Western cutlery were often decorated on both sides. There was a thread about the topic some time ago:

 

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/29927-your-thoughts-on-these-kozuka-dinner-knives/

 

[Bob M.]

Hi Pietro,

 

Yes, using the design on both sides was done quite often , or a mix of designs . 

 

From what I have seen recently for sale , usually in auctions , I would say it is about 50/50 between single sided decoration and double sided.

 

These pieces were not just made for western knives , but often ended up for sale to tourists in Japan with an inexpensive kogatana fitted.

 

As they were made in large quantities ( and are possibly still being made today ) it is not surprising that they turn up so often.

 

Regards

[Bugyotsuji]

Some Victorian sets used/adapted real Kozuka handles, but they would have been very expensive, even at the time. The silverware tangs were set into something like hide/animal glue.

[BjornLundin]

Some pictures from the seller.

 

The small recett on the back of the handle, could that be done to be fitted with the fuchi. Thus point to be a kozuka for nihonto?

 

Best Björn

[Brian]

Gut feel is that this is a regular kozuka, late Edo/Meiji, made to go with a sword, and of the usual low end pressed brass construction. As such, nothing wrong with mounting it with a blade and adding to a sword koshirae. Of course I may be wrong, have been wrong before, and will be wrong again
But this fits with the usual lower end genuine kozuka we often see.

[BjornLundin]

Thank you all.

 

The path to enlightment is a looong and steeep one, but atleast for this one I liked the scenary and expected as much and most probably reflected the price. Alteast someone bidded the same amount as me, which always is good to know that I am not the only f*****ish fish out there. 

 

But low quality, ough, now I need to get me a good quaility kozuka so that my brain will be blown out.

 

Thank you again for all the good information you get on the board

 

-Björn

 

[PietroParis]

3 hours ago, BjornLundin said:

But low quality, ough, now I need to get me a good quaility kozuka so that my brain will be blown out.

 

One thing you may train your eye on is the density and regularity of the nanako. In higher-end pieces it becomes difficult to even believe that it could have been made by hand...

 

 

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(NOTE: I pulled these at random from Bonhams & Christies sales, TBH I'm not even sure that they qualify as high-end).