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Originally Posted by Lee
Rsword, Hideyoshi and you both have good eyes and are entirely correct in your suspicions. The blade was in a rack perpendicular to the front of the table with only the face I have previously been showing on view. Somehow I had just enough of a hint or the piled construction to ask to pick it up, and the opposite side - pictured below - was much more overt. I think some persons more expert than myself bypassed it without closer inspection owing to the enigma of the hilt.
My own suspicions are that the blade may well be 19th century or early 20th while the hilt has likely been made since the time of WWII. Personally, I do not believe this hilting to represent a tourist item or a Western bladesmith's fantasy piece - the hilt allows for an excellent grip and the balance is favorable - and the work is either too good or not good enough to recommend such classification. So I guess I will just have to live with the enigma until someone recognizes the style and can place the origin of the grip.
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And now you all know it is not alone in the world ;-)
Gav