Thanks for the pic, Ron!
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as far as the variation on how the strap is assembled, i've seen this done before, whereas the straps run inside the handle as oppose to the outside. the only difference on this is how short the strap was; normally it's about the length of the tang itself.
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Yeah, the short(ened), pointed pieces don't look right.
I have yet to see an example with strips running inside the hilt that proves to be at least 19th c. and being unaltered; I guess this may rarely be a genuine feature, especially with hilt types that don't favor attachment to the outside. However, this construction would not offer any benefit over any tang-only attachment (like most other swords of the region).
Regards,
Kai