Curious Kastane - Thoughts?

[CharlesS]

To my eye the blade looks pretty badly produced...but actually many outstanding kastanes have very poor blades as these types are "to be seen" status pieces.

The more troubling thing is the 'silver' work which, again, to my eye looks "pressed" or molded, perhaps even cast and then finished. Some tourist items of this type, that is, with pressed or molded alloy metal, can be seen coming out of Indonesia.

I would not dare to speculate too much on this piece without actually having it in hand, but from what I can see, I agree with the conclusion that it may be some sort or mass produced tourist mock-up of a kastane. Like so many things of that type, they can look darn good from a distance!