Prewar70 Posted May 14 Report Posted May 14 I recently purchased a sword, and the fittings look good to me. I brought the tsuka to my local jeweler and she tested the menuki in several spots with her radar looking gun. They came back ranging from 14-17kt gold. I don't plan on removing them unless someone thinks I should. I'm wondering what you can discern from the pictures. Is it unusual that they're gold? Does automatically indicate a good maker and quality? Thank you for your help. Quote
Geraint Posted May 14 Report Posted May 14 Dear James. It is not entirely unusual to have gold menuki, what you do next is of course up to you. I would love to see a picture of the entire koshirae but the really nice wrap is going to need redoing and you need to find someone who can do it justice. While this is happening you could remove the menuki and replace them with similar shakudo examples. For me the decision would hang on whether the koshirae was original or not, I note that it does not seem to have seppa, do you have a feeling that this has been put together or perhaps the tsuba has been swopped out? The tsuka appears to be original and attractive so my perspective would be re wrap just as it is including these menuki. Dealers and collectors have always been inclined to swap fittings, more money to be made selling the boxed fittings and putting together a koshirae. Personally I would regard that as heresy and would want to retain anything original about the sword. If the seppa are indeed missing then you might have to change the Namban tsuba for something thinner, add seppa, and that would change the dynamic somewhat. Looking forward to a picture of the whole thing and what others have to say. All the best. 2 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted May 14 Report Posted May 14 James, the MENUKI may be pure gold or gold-covered. You will have problems seeing that mounted, so - as Geraint stated - when the TSUKA-ITO is being redone, you can have a look at the backside of the MENUKI. 1 Quote
Prewar70 Posted May 14 Author Report Posted May 14 Hello and thanks for the info. I’ve attached some additional pictures. Geraint the seppa and TSUBA were definitely cobbled together. The remaining all seem to be a set and overall a nice package. They appear to have a copper base maybe judging by some color coming through. The wire inlay has a nice gold color. 2 Quote
Spartancrest Posted May 15 Report Posted May 15 Wow! A rare CARVED namban double dragon tsuba - so many of this design are cast pieces - very nice indeed! 2 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted May 15 Report Posted May 15 Thanks for showing these. A nice overall package! 1 Quote
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