Tsuba Etching

[Hokke]

Has anyone seen any edo tsuba that were etched with a pattern?

 

This mokume is so bold and prominent it just seems a bit too.....o-mokume.

 

Thoughts?

 

Edited July 11 by Hokke

[Tensho]

Looks legit to me. If you zoom in you can see fissures in the steel. Attached is a similar one posted by a member here:

Edited July 11 by Tensho

[Bugyotsuji]

These mokumé tsuba were quite fancied.

[Hokke]

Relatively inexpensive tsuba that should be here any day now. Im looking forward to seeing this one in person. What drew me to it wasn't so much the mokume, but the fact that it's over 90x80mm's, a nice full size tsuba. My question wasn't so much about whether or not it was forged, but rather if there were period techniques to enhance the visible pattern to provide more contrast.

[John C]

This thread (the part from Steve Waszak) talks a bit about acids and forging techiniques to reach the effect.

 

[Hokke]

7 hours ago, John C said:

This thread (the part from Steve Waszak) talks a bit about acids and forging techiniques to reach the effect.

 

Good find, thanks

[GRC]

That's a proper mokume tsuba.

They started making fancy "stacked jelly roll" swirls like this in the late Edo period.

 

...and all mokume tsuba are completely submerged in acid, but only so the acid can "eat away" at the layers of softer steel to reveal the intentionally layered steels in the steel billet that was forged and used to make the mokume tsuba.  

So, the swirls weren't "painted on" so to speak, which is what i think you are asking/suggesting about this tsuba.

 

The pattern you see was pre-planned by the smith who layered, hammered and folded the steel. This is a really good one... very elaborate and much more complicated to forge well