|
|
Post by Timo Nieminen on Jan 18, 2021 22:23:52 GMT
Also, I'm confused about it being a "reproduction" as one member said. Since many current production swords are forged in China, what would be the difference between those and a reproduction" Fundamentally, not much. A modern-made Medieval European sword is a reproduction - it isn't a real Medieval sword. A Chinese-made katana is a reproduction Japanese sword - it isn't a real Japanese sword. If you want "real", buy a newly-made or antique Japanese-made sword. Apart from not being made in Japan by a licensed smith, a Chinese repro is also made much more cheaply. It isn't made from tamahagane (except in very rare cases, if you're happy to call Chinese-smelted iron sand bloomery steel "tamahagane" which not everybody is). The heat treatment is often done differently. The shaping of the blade is often woefully inferior by Japanese standards (so they don't look "Japanese"). From a functional rather than aesthetic perspective, the greatest sin is usually low-quality mountings. Your sword is probably not just a "reproduction", but also a "fake", a reproduction made to be sold as the real thing, with intent to deceive. This doesn't intrinsically make it any worse, morality aside. However, two main functional problems are common: (a) heat treatment might be non-existent (or might be good), and (b) the mountings are often very poorly made, with poorly fitting tsuba, fuchi, kashira, very poor wrapping of the grip, very low-quality wood. |
|
|
|
Post by scowl on Jan 19, 2021 0:54:11 GMT
Thanks for the reply. The first part sums up what I was thinking. So the sword I posted may be fake. Looking at the pictures, what is glaring evidence to you that makes it more fake than a reproduction? I've seen lots of fake blades at flea markets, gun shows etc and they all scream fake...or at least sword like object. I'm sure there is vast options on where to draw the lines in the sand, but I'm learning so I'd appreciate the various viewpoints. To me, this piece too elaborate to be a fake. But I suppose there are people out there who'll put in extra work and cost into counterfeiting something if there are uneducated buyers such as myself. Guilty as charged..not a big hit to my account anyways.
|
|
|
|
Post by Timo Nieminen on Jan 19, 2021 4:08:40 GMT
Many fakes are functional swords - these fool more people than non-functional fakes. As for too elaborate, considering that Musashi's budget line of swords (Musha) sells for $60, at a profit for all concerned, fakes that sell for $100-200 bring in a lot of profit, too.
|
|
|
|
Post by scowl on Jan 19, 2021 22:11:57 GMT
Thanks for the reply. I'm still wondering what screams "fake" from the pictures? Obviously has lose ITO wrap and the fuchi and/or tsuba are lose or misaligned. Couldn't all that be mishandling and not specifically poor craftmanship. I'm told the tip of the blade is clear tell. Cleary the signature is Chinese. A friend of mine who is Chinese told me the first two characters translate to "Komoto" so a name/place. The other two she said our Chinese for "Japanese." Seems odd that someone would try to intentionally deceive and leave such and obvious clue that it's not authentic. I'm not trying to add value that's not there, just trying to learn from my mistake as much as I can.
|
|
|
|
Post by Timo Nieminen on Jan 19, 2021 23:24:02 GMT
The things that say that it's a reproduction are the general appearance and poor quality of the metal hilt fittings, and the geometry of the tip of the blade. The photos don't show the appearance of the steel very well, but it looks like it might be typical Chinese folded steel. Scabbards like this with tachi suspension and full rayskin covering are much more common in repros and fakes than with authentic swords. The grip wrap isn't Japanese, but such things can be amateur replacements. The hole in the tang is a modern drilled hole, and the tang looks very new, so the sword is quite new, probably late 20th century or later. Overall the sword doesn't look like anything that would have been made in Japan in the 20th century, let alone the late 20th century or 21st. If you've seen a bunch of reproductions, and fakes, and the real thing, it becomes fairly easy to say whether a sword is a typical modern Chinese-made katana (i.e., a non-fake reproduction), a fake, or the real thing. Look at lots of pictures. Lots of photos of the real thing at www.aoijapan.com/ (and also elsewhere, but Aoi-Art has lots of excellent photos, and is a great starting point). For reproductions and fakes, look at "Japanese" swords being sold from China on ebay and aliexpress. What says "fake" rather than just "reproduction" is the artificial aging. Also the very poor casting on the tsuba - honest reproductions are usually better quality. I am not a Japanese sword expert, so I can't comment usefully on whether the style of the signature is Japanese or not. Japanese inscriptions are usually in kanji (i.e., Chinese characters as used in Japanese). |
|
|
|
Post by scowl on Jan 20, 2021 17:54:49 GMT
Thanks again for the valuable feedback.
|
|
