Chinese Sabre

[josh stout]

Originally Posted by freebooter

Thanks heaps for the info Josh, The blade looks very old with a wonderful watered pattern throughout, the scabbard end however doesn't look new but it certainly doesn't look a hundred years old either. It does however appear to be covered in what I would call a very very fine skin, almost like our own skin when it peels after a bad day in the sun... lacquer perhaps has this effect? At least you have now given me a further avenue to pursue for my own knowledge.

Am loving this site, thanks again Josh.

Gav

I assume you are talking about the top blade. If the scabbard were a slightly later replacement, it would still be considered to be "period" work up through the forties. I have a couple of pieces where I think the scabbard was replaced late, but not recently.

Chinese lacquered scabbards were made with a wooden core, then thin cheesecloth like fabric coated with some sort of white gesso. This gives the lacquer something to hold onto, and in typical, not perfectly finished, examples, the weave of the underlying fabric is visible in spots. The lacquer forms a very thin coat and does get "flaky: with age.
Josh