Is this fuchi kashira set modern?

[Hector]

I picked up this FK set around two years ago thinking it was just a good quality modern replica.

The design is crashing waves with gold droplets and a raft is depicted on the fuchi.

 

Now I'm not really sure what it is. The shitodome are definitely modern - I bought them from Namikawa Heibei but the overall workmanship is confusing. 

Pros:

They are not cast; the fuchi is soldered in two pieces with a reinforcing strip at the seam.

They appear to be made from real shakudo - even the main plate of the fuchi which is usually red copper.
The detail is crisp.

 

Cons:

The nanako does not look hand punched to me.

I cannot see any chisel marks to confirm that 'human touch'.

 

All opinions welcome - and apologies for my usual, bad photography.

 

Hector

 

Edited Thursday at 10:11 AM by Hector

[Exclus1ve]

Based on these photos, it does not appear to be shakudo, it is more likely a later alloy. However, the construction looks original and does not appear to be a modern reproduction. I think it is simply an ordinary late-period piece.

[Hector]

14 hours ago, Exclus1ve said:

Based on these photos, it does not appear to be shakudo, it is more likely a later alloy. However, the construction looks original and does not appear to be a modern reproduction. I think it is simply an ordinary late-period piece.

Thank you Viktor.

Your (lone) opinion was very welcome!
 

I wouldn't be able to recognise real shakudo so your observation of a later alloy is definitely worth some more research on my part.

[Exclus1ve]

Shakudo with a high gold content almost always has a rich bluish-purple tone with an iridescent sheen in the light. My observations are based on those of Ford Hallam. He mentioned that, by the late Edo period, gold was no longer used to achieve this kind of black patina. These are only my own observations, but it certainly doesn't look like modern work to me.

[Matsunoki]

Google AI….

Alternative Dark Japanese Irogane Alloys

Nigurome: A mix of copper with small amounts of silver and/or gold, patinated to a deep blue-black finish. Unlike shakudo, it contains less or no gold and was traditionally used for larger fittings. [1, 2]

Kuromido: A copper alloy treated with arsenic to achieve an intense, jet-black surface color. [1, 2, 3]

Shibuichi: A copper-silver alloy that turns a soft silvery-grey rather than rich purple-black, but is part of the same family of traditional colored metals (irogane). [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

 

Non-Alloy Imitations

Patinated Copper: Pure copper treated with rokushō (a copper acetate/chemical mixture) can yield a dark purple-black surface visually identical to shakudo without any gold content. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Damascene / Kuro-maku: Dark steel surfaces inlaid with gold and silver wire. Mass-market souvenir pieces (like Nagoya mono) are often sold as shakudo but are actually etched or painted iron/steel. [1, 2]

 

Hector…..difficult to say for sure because images distort colours etc but they look genuine, not the best quality and possibly Nigurome which was also used as a shakudo lookalike during Meiji on all manner of works of art where large amounts of shakudo would be very expensive. Or they could be shakudo!