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Post by Afoo on Mar 1, 2015 7:02:10 GMT
I found this sword in e-bay, and was curious as to what it was www.ebay.ca/itm/141586138448?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649In appears to be a Prussian M1852 sabre. The ricasso bears the Solingen stamp. However, the reverse side bears some asiatic characters. The characters on the left appear Japanese. However, the ones on the right look to be Chinese (from what I remember from school, the one on the far right is "moon"). The seller suggests that this sword was exported to Japan. However, I think it is also possible that it was first exported to China - given the level of military cooperation between the two nations at the time compared to the Japanese and their close association with Brittain, its not unlikely. The weapon could have either made its way from China to Japan via commerce, or captured during one of the many conflicts between the two powers. Either way, an interesting bit of history from a sword that, at first glance, appears very out of place.
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Post by randomnobody on Mar 1, 2015 10:07:10 GMT
Can't comment on much, but the kanji you're referring to as "moon" (月) is actually 明 which usually interprets as "bright" but has many meanings depending on context: www.kanjidamage.com/kanji/43-bright-%E6%98%8EI can't make out the faded one inside the circle, but it looks like it could be 本, which is either book, real/true, or part of "Japan" (日本) but the long tail throws me off. Either artistic liberties or a brand logo, perhaps? Looks German-made for Japan, but I can't say.
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Post by Dave Kelly on Mar 1, 2015 12:07:22 GMT
Can't comment on the Oriental connections, but the sword is in fact a Solingen produced ( Clemens & Jung ) M1852 sabre. "How it got in my pajamas I'll never understand..."
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Post by aronk on Mar 1, 2015 16:07:18 GMT
Interesting. The dent in the scabbard is a dead giveaway that it was carried on horseback. Typically, you see that dent associated with the lower bit of a cavalry scabbard as the result of a disagreement with a metal cavalry stirrup.
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Post by randomnobody on Mar 1, 2015 16:47:31 GMT
I'd seen a few other scabbards with that dent before and had never bothered to track down a most probable cause. That makes sense.
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Post by Afoo on Mar 1, 2015 18:54:56 GMT
Can't comment on much, but the kanji you're referring to as "moon" (月) is actually 明 which usually interprets as "bright" but has many meanings depending on context: www.kanjidamage.com/kanji/43-bright-%E6%98%8EI can't make out the faded one inside the circle, but it looks like it could be 本, which is either book, real/true, or part of "Japan" (日本) but the long tail throws me off. Either artistic liberties or a brand logo, perhaps? Looks German-made for Japan, but I can't say. :-X Perhaps. The fact that it is Kanji does suggest it could be either Chinese or Japanese - I believe that system of writing was originally adapted from Chinese characters, so there is a lot of crossover. It does look like the Chinese I learnt many years ago :P Never thought I would use that again... Also, the lack of the imperial seal is unusual for a Japanese weapon is it not?
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Post by randomnobody on Mar 1, 2015 19:06:36 GMT
Funny thing about kanji, just take the word itself: 漢字
Literally "Chinese Letter(s)" as it were. So yes, as with a good chunk of Asian languages, Japan uses predominately Chinese ideograms in their writing. They've also developed two separate phonetic "alphabets" of their own but that's another matter.
As for the Imperial seal, I dunno. I guess it depends on which empire or what purpose the sword was for? If it wasn't a standard issue blade, it might not bear the imperial mark. I'll let someone more educated than myself figure that one out, Google isn't telling me anything useful at all.
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Post by Afoo on Mar 1, 2015 19:21:44 GMT
Either way, its annoyingly tempting :P
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