Mark Green Posted February 13, 2009 Report Posted February 13, 2009 Hi Gang, Here is another set I like. Dragons What do yuo guys think? Quote
Stephen Posted February 13, 2009 Report Posted February 13, 2009 Now those i know what to do with, three parts cow urine and two parts dog snot,,,,oh wait thats for something else. Nevermind. always nice to have dragon with ball in hand, how do you guys dig these up. ebay?? Quote
John A Stuart Posted February 13, 2009 Report Posted February 13, 2009 Hi Mark, I see the female/male dragon pairing. However, I can't see any shishi. These need some cleaning, verdigris/ copper rust. Rokusho afterwards, do you think, Ford? Pierced work shows a step up. John Quote
Mark Green Posted February 13, 2009 Author Report Posted February 13, 2009 These were some we found in Dana's pile last night. Yes just dragons. Not sure where he got them. maybe ebay. he has a bunch he has taken off old swords the past 8 yrs or so. Quote
Ford Hallam Posted February 13, 2009 Report Posted February 13, 2009 to be honest these look like cast copies to me... . I don't like them at all, they fail to convince me they were hand made. The green patina actually adds to my suspicion. Sorry, just my opinion. Quote
Mark Green Posted February 13, 2009 Author Report Posted February 13, 2009 How do you tell the difference Ford? Is there something obvious to look for? Just learning. Thanks, mark G Quote
Ford Hallam Posted February 14, 2009 Report Posted February 14, 2009 Hi mark, ...the first and most obvious give-away is the fact that these are made of an obviously brassy type alloy. While this is not totally unknown in genuine antique work you'd be hard pressed to find one, especially in such a "generic/average" sort of design. Brass is cheap... and easy to cast today. It's use in genuine uchidashi work ( the process used to make genuine menuki ) is very rare indeed. The next thing to look at is the crispness of the work. You need to see the difference between legitimate smoothing of the sharp edges due to age ( ie handling... and menuki don't really get handled all that much if you come to think about it ) and the sort of blurring of crisp detail that results when the item is cast from a wax replica which comes from a rubber mould taken from a genuine piece. The steps in this process leave signs ( basic degradation of detail being most notable) that are unmistakable to anyone with professional experience of this sort of technology. The final obvious feature from the photos is the relative thickness of the metal. Traditionally made menuki are made from sheet that is usually about 1.2 mm thick to begin with. In this case the final finish seems quite chunky...and the inside of the back has the sort of typical smoothed out surface of a casting. A genuine, uchidashi piece will display far more relationship between the front and the back. hope some of this helps a little bit. regards, Ford Quote
John A Stuart Posted February 14, 2009 Report Posted February 14, 2009 A good lesson, Ford. Thank you. John Quote
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