Cast tsuba and fakes

[Brian]

Looks like nowdays they don't even bother trying to clean up the flashing inside the ana.

Here is a perfect example of a cast repro before they clean it up. If this doesn't strike you as VERY fake immediately...you may need to study more before buying.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-Japanese-Ka ... 2a05a8b0a6

 

Brian

[Mark Green]

Good price though. :lol:

Signed too.

Likely made by a kettle-maker, back in the olden days.

 

Mark

[sanjuro]

The question begs itself, by virtue of some recent thinking concerning cast tsuba, will this still be a cast tsuba after someone buys it and cleans it up? It will then have the marks upon it of having been worked by hand, and thus have been miraculously transformed into a forged tsuba.......

[Lee Bray]

...will this still be a cast tsuba after someone buys it and cleans it up?

 

Yes.

 

This tsuba came on a papered sword I bought in HK a few years back. The seller was an old fella that said he bought it in Japan twenty years back.

Sword is good but the tsuba was plainly cast with cast marks and cast "sekigane".

Whether the guy replaced the tsuba whilst in HK and didn't tell me or the tsuba was made in modern day Japan is only going to be speculation.

 

I had intended to file off the cast marks, give it some proper sekigane and a new patina because it fits the sword and also matches the koshirae theme(Kirimon). I know that's sacrilege but the sword's a keeper and I don't have a tsuba to fit it, so...

 

Anyway...all this stuff about cast tsuba recently, I thought sod it and hit the thing with a hammer...

Firmly held in a big vice, it was surprising the lack of effort needed to break it. Broke on the first tap with a 1/2 lb hammer.

 

 

 

 

You can see the grain size is huge. I've seen tighter grain in an Aero chocolate bar.

 

So, yes, it would still be a cast tsuba if someone took the time to do some work on it... but now they're going to have to do some welding to this one. If they can find it in the bin...

[Brian]

I've seen tighter grain in an Aero chocolate bar.

Kudos to you for removing it from the pool Lee

Also a very good example of what to look for and how they look inside. I may use the pic in the FAQ section..

 

Brian

[Lorenzo]

Lee, your sacrifice for science paid off

 

I think your picture illustrate the point much better than a thousand words spent on the subject..

 

 

...amen

[Lee Bray]

My pleasure, chaps, and feel free to use the pic if you want, Brian.

 

Now...anyone got a thickish iron tsuba, preferably sukashi with Kirimon motif for sale?

[kusunokimasahige]

I am wondering now if there are any genuine collectors of cast tsuba... just like collectors of fakes..

 

KM

[Pete Klein]

"One born every minute"... P. T. Barnum (loosely quoted)

[ububob]

...and H.L.Mencken reminds us, "Nobody ever went broke undestimating the taste of the American public."