Interesting tsuka compartment scroll..any idea what this is?

[slavia631]

Hi all,

 

Today I was speaking with a friend whose grandfather has a very intriguing WWII bringback.

 

I was not able to see the sword, but he described it to me in detail. He tells me that at the end of the tsuka, it has a large iron ball pommel that screws/slides out to reveal that it is attached to an iron rod, around which is wrapped a paper scroll with red kanji characters. The non-military saya and style of blade lead him to think that it predates the war and the blade is Nihonto.

 

Has anyone seen or heard of anything like this?

[Ray Singer]

A large iron ball pommel does not sound like a Japanese Sword, perhaps Chinese? There are faux tanto koshirae that you occasionally see which are entirely hollow and designed to store or hide a scroll. I can recall at least three of these from past shows.

[Brian]

Sounds like an Indonesian tourist piece..they tend to unscrew to contain another blade and/or "jewels" etc...

To be honest, doesn't sound like anything noteworthy, but let's see pics and find out.

 

Brian

[slavia631]

I'm waiting for him to bring it by. He says the blade is "NICE"....but I don't know what that means to someone who doesn't know Nihonto. We will see. I'll keep you posted...