Dodgy mei

[kissakai]

This was sold on eBay yesterday and I wondered if the mei was chiseled or molded. It was sold for just over £430

 

 

 

[Gunome]

Hello,

 

I would say chiseled mei, but crapy close up photo

[Geraint]

Dear Grev,

 

I agree with Sebastien, the photograph does the mei no favours, coupled with some corrosion.  It looks as if the image has been cropped and enlarged a little too much.  The  overall images do not suggest a cast tsuba to me.

 

All the best.

[JohnTo]

Hi Grev,

Without having the tsuba in my hands one cannot be sure from photos but the following warning signs light up in my head.

1. The mei looks like it was applied with a broad chisel.  Fine if it was Nobuie, but..

2. The seppa dai has a granular finish.  I would expect smooth or hammered from a forged piece.

3. The hitsu ana and other features look 'soft', not sharply cut.

4. The photo of the seppa dai shows a flake missing from the top of the sukashi.  Mill scaling?

5. The top right hand corner of the seppa dai inside sukashi and left inside mimi show red lines.  This might be rust at the weld of folded iron, or it might be the seam of a mould.

Individually none of the points above show it was cast, but £430.  You can buy papered tsuba from Japan for that.

 

best regards, John

[kissakai]

Thanks for the comments - I assumed that the mei was genuine due to the sale price

One of my first checks if I like a tsuba is the shape of the mei but I forgot about any corrosion

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by kissakai
Added extra info