Chinese Jian

[Gavin Nugent]

Well the good news is that the sword arrived today, they bad news is the macro function has gone kaput on my ole Sony F505V, time to explore new options.

From good examination of the sword I can state the following.

The scabbard is in considerably good condition, upon first glance it just looked like a black lacquer over wood but when looking closer it is black lacquer over ray or shark skin. Although the lacquer hides the grain in places, it looks to be completely intact bar the odd dint, scratch, cut in the hide or small fracture in the wood. It also sports a fine copper type wire at the ends of the scabbard under the fitting, I am guessing being wrapped to hold the skin in place and then lacquered over before having the fittings placed on.

What at first I thought from the images was just a cloth below the guard is in fact what I would consider a tassel, there is a rawhide loop bound with red woollen type fibre that has had glue or a lacquer placed on it to stop it unravelling itself, from there it has three fabric strips bound under the red material. The tassel colour scheme is red blue red, a wider light blue strip then blue again. Images will explain it better when I get the photos up.

The hilt and guard are lovely and look better than the images posted, maybe a better light can reveal this. All fitting are very tight with no movement.

The blade.. I would like some advise before I tackle cleaning the blade. I have rubbed all the inlay and all is present. The blade has a good amount of flex and when pushed against the floor, my grip breaks before I push the blade any further. The first six inches of the 29 inch blade is thicker in the spine then the rest of the blade and when I rub my fingers the full length it too can be felt, to my eyes it also thickens slightly at the tip, remains unsharpened and would be a thrusting weapon rather than a slashing weapon but would leave a nasty gash I am sure if slashed. Between the 13th and 17th inch of the blade there are about 4-5 nicks in the edges.

All for now, time to shop for a new camera.

regards

Gav

[josh stout]

I am glad to hear that the stars were all there. I think you have a very nice piece. What can you tell about the pattern welding?
Josh

[Gavin Nugent]

Hi Josh, at this stage I cannot tell you much, I cannot see any distinct patterns or a "harmon" (the edge is not live). I can however see something in the steel, but what exactly I have no idea as yet. I will be bidding on a new camera tonight and I hope to have it within the week to take images. In the mean time I will clean clean clean the blade for a better look.
I have done the file test as suggested and it does grip somewhat and does not skate across like a file does on my Tibetan Knives. I then took my Sabre off the wall that shows a distinct wave pattern and the file grips exactly the same as the Jian. I am guessing it is just a matter of the steel used in the period? I also noted that the cloth binding on the hilts is exactly the same on both Jian and Sabre as is the red material under the binding.

regards

Gav

[Gavin Nugent]

Here it is guys and I very much welcome further advise and comments.

The Blade.

I finally cleaned all the grease and muck off the blade and thought to myself Blah, just a very boring bright shine blade and I could see no forging marks to the naked eye. I then looked at past forums on etching and cleaning and ran a few question by fellow collectors who provided good sound advise.

I followed instruction from Rick,(Thanks Rick) and proceeded to clean further and remove this shine to see if any pattern laid beneath.
I have only etched the blade once and quickly, the photos reveal what lay beneath the bright shine finish.
I do not wish to take this any further until I hear some more sound advise from readers and collectors.

From this discovery I have pondered a few questions.

Why is it that when I now apply polish, these lamenations disapear to the naked eye again?

Should I continue with etching, or polish, oil and preserve it as it is?

Should I return the blade to it's former high shine, grease it as it has been all these years and leave it?

What date would one assume this sword was produced?


I am guessing that this is one of those rare lucky finds as stated by others, being a long blade in full profile, inlay complete and well preserved since it's departure from it's original owner.

All the Best

Gav

[josh stout]

Very nice looking blade. We can stay with the Early Republican/late Qing dating, but as you know the blade could be older. As for etching, there are many opinions. Here is what I would do: Scrub the blade with soap and water, be very careful not to get any on the fittings. Remove any residual oils with Windex and perhaps finally acetone. Then when it is perfectly dry, put clear nail polish over the stars. They could fall out with etching otherwise. I etch mine with vinegar in a PVC tube as this gives an even result. I leave the tube next to the furnace so the temperature is about 35 C.. Then I leave it there for 18-24 hours. I take it out, neutralise it with baking soda, then scrub it again. This makes a clean shiny blade where once again the laminations are difficult to see. (they would be dark before the final scrubbing.) Now what you have done is create a bit of contour with the etching. I take 4000 grit paper and go over the blade. This highlights the lamination, and turns the high carbon steel bright and the low carbon dark. Without this if you just left the blade dark from etching, the high carbon is dark, and the low carbon bright. I prefer bright edges on a Chinese blade. I have not seen this particular approach described before, so I would be interested in others comments. I showed a blade I had treated this way to Scott Rodell, and he liked the way it looked very much.
Josh

[Gavin Nugent]

Hi Josh,

Can you show images of this blade in detail here please. I would like to see the final effect you speak of. I too would like to hear what others think of this method.


regards

Gav

[Flavio]

Yes Josh, please if you can post some pics thank you