A curious Japanese? sword

[ariel]

I do not know much about Korean sword; thus, I have to rely fully on the chapter by Park Je Gwang, a curator of the War Memorial of Korea. This was published in a book titled "History of steel in Eastern Asia", a catalogue of the Macao exhibition. Two of our colleagues, Ian and Jose ( Battara) coauthored a chapter on Sandata, Philippines bladed weapons.

Back to the Korean swords. The main cultural difference between them and the Japanese swords was a very different attitude. The was nothing of a " Sword is the soul of the samurai". Swords were just implements, no more. The main physical difference was the attachment of the handle to the tang: in Japan the mekugi was easily removable, in Korea they had a true rivet, that prevented any disassembly.

Look at yours and see which method was used in your sword.

[Norman McCormick]

Originally Posted by ariel

I do not know much about Korean sword; thus, I have to rely fully on the chapter by Park Je Gwang, a curator of the War Memorial of Korea. This was published in a book titled "History of steel in Eastern Asia", a catalogue of the Macao exhibition. Two of our colleagues, Ian and Jose ( Battara) coauthored a chapter on Sandata, Philippines bladed weapons.

Back to the Korean swords. The main cultural difference between them and the Japanese swords was a very different attitude. The was nothing of a " Sword is the soul of the samurai". Swords were just implements, no more. The main physical difference was the attachment of the handle to the tang: in Japan the mekugi was easily removable, in Korea they had a true rivet, that prevented any disassembly.

Look at yours and see which method was used in your sword.

Hi Ariel,
The hilt is secured by a peg and not a rivet so I guess from your research that rules out a Korean attribution.
My Regards,
Norman.

[Norman McCormick]

David and Ren Ren,
A valid point.
My Regards,
Norman.

[David R]

I suspect that the reason for the offset "machi" is to get the look of the traditional habaki, which is a more complicated piece of work than people realise, without all the fiddling around.....
I have made a couple of habaki, and there is a lot of fiddling around.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi,
A Korean sword with a pegged hilt also just discernible is an 'offset habaki'.
My Regards,
Norman.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi,
Another Korean sword with a discernible 'offset habaki' but with the more common 'rivet' through the hilt which also doubles as a hole for a tassled cord.
Regards,
Norman.

[David R]

Tubular rivets for a sword knot are a very Chinese (authentic) feature. Not always present but seen often enough.

[Norman McCormick]

Originally Posted by ariel

I do not know much about Korean sword; thus, I have to rely fully on the chapter by Park Je Gwang, a curator of the War Memorial of Korea. This was published in a book titled "History of steel in Eastern Asia", a catalogue of the Macao exhibition. The main physical difference was the attachment of the handle to the tang: in Japan the mekugi was easily removable, in Korea they had a true rivet, that prevented any disassembly.

Hi,
Also from the above publication.

'Another method used a cooper pin like the Mekugi just above the sword guard, and a tube inserted into a hole in the handle, to which a tassel was attached.'

This could possibly account for the two holes in the tang of my blade as it is reasonably evident the blade is not original to the current mounts. I presume the 'cooper pin' is a typo and is intended to be a copper pin.
Regards,
Norman.