Support needed for 2 swords

[Guest When Necessary]

Forgive me for pointing out an odd anomaly in the koshirae of the all-black sword. I like the look of both pieces and I'm certainly not trying to focus on a negative but the kurigata (the protruding part on the saya to secure the Sageo cord) looks like a plastic replacement.
It is so angular and of such a strange colour, that it almost looks like something made on a 3D printer. 

[Lewis B]

From the appearance I wonder if it could be bone. 

[Guest When Necessary]

That did cross my mind Lewis but I've never seen bone turn such a uniform (and frankly odd) colour. Besides, it should have at least some remains of urushi on it.

[Lewis B]

Well, like you say this appears to be a replacement part. The bone might have been stained in a previous life to mimic aged elephant ivory which would account for the uneven coloration. I would expect a 3D printed part to be more uniform in color. 

[Guest When Necessary]

You could be right. 🤔

[Kubur]

51 minutes ago, When Necessary said:

Forgive me for pointing out an odd anomaly in the koshirae of the all-black sword. I like the look of both pieces and I'm certainly not trying to focus on a negative but the kurigata (the protruding part on the saya to secure the Sageo cord) looks like a plastic replacement.
It is so angular and of such a strange colour, that it almost looks like something made on a 3D printer. 

YES I noticed that too :-) I thought it was plastic, but it is not, it could  be bone, but i'm not sure. Is ivory possible? And is this shape totaly out of context? It seems like an added element but unless I'm mistaken I have seen some swords with this part missing and it's like a grove in the scabbard. So is it a missing piece replaced later or is it possible to have something not round? Because the rest of the scabbard looks good to me.

[Guest When Necessary]

17 minutes ago, Kubur said:

YES I noticed that too :-) I thought it was plastic, but it is not, it could  be bone, but i'm not sure. Is ivory possible? And is this shape totaly out of context? It seems like an added element but unless I'm mistaken I have seen some swords with this part missing and it's like a grove in the scabbard. So is it a missing piece replaced later or is it possible to have something not round? Because the rest of the scabbard looks good to me.

Hello Kubur,

 

It could indeed be ivory if it was repaired some time ago. Some kurigata are sharply angled like this but, generally, they look more rounded as on your other sword. However, as long as it's not plastic, then there are no more alarm bells going off for me regarding the koshirae (apart from its obvious wear and tear). 🙂

[Guest When Necessary]

@Kubur

To explain the singular downvotes on all my comments in this thread. They are not actually a genuine assessment of the observations I have made on your sword.
Unfortunately, they represent the obsessive behaviour of one rather tragic individual who is downvoting every single comment I make on the entire forum - even including photos of my pet hamster on a thread in the 'Members Only' section. 😂

 

I'm truly sorry that this bizarre situation has intruded upon your enquiry.

[Rawa]

1 hour ago, When Necessary said:

I know exactly who keeps downvoting all my comments and it just proves how truly pathetic they are and how the forum is far better off without them.

I prefer to read members opinions instead of using emojis. Forum exists to spread knowledge right?

[French nihonto]

I would be curious to know the motohaba and sakihaba of the blade with the bo-hi. I don't know if it's an optical effect but it doesn't seem to have much difference, and seems to have a fairly solid width. Taking the dimensions of the boshi could also help.

[Kubur]

Will do it! Thanks all!