johnnyi
Bronze Member
- Jul 4, 2009
- 1,887
- 143
- Detector(s) used
- minelab, white's xlt, deus xp, fisher aquanaut, white's twin box
- Primary Interest:
- Relic Hunting
I thought you guys might want to see what strange stuff we can pull up with a detector. I made these finds over a five year period while detecting a colonial lime kiln. They are the hilt fittings to a 16th century samurai sword.
The carved iron object ("laughing frog") I found under a tree root at the kiln above the small quarry. It was covered with dirt and some rust, and I almost winged it, thinking it was a washer of some sort. It's called a "tsuba" which is the hand guard. The silver object, the "hubaki" which goes on the blade in front of the tsuba, I found the same day along with one of the brass "seppa", the washers that go on both sides of the tsuba.
The "fuchi" and "kashira" are the objects that go behind the blade and on the butt of the handle. There are both made of a gold amalgom which is inlaid with gold. I have yet to identify the family crest. I found the fuchi first, and I didn't know what I'd found. It was so clean and shiny I believed it might have been part of a makeup case or a lighter. It wasn't until five years later I was able to find the Kashira.
All the objects, other than the first three, were found in a very wide area. I'd imagined all sorts of scenerios as to how they might have been lost. Maybe a Japanese family around the time of Perry worked the kilns, etc.. I eventually found the answer, and found why I was never able to find the blade.
I'd detect daily in the summers, and I hit the pub at night. It was pretty much a ritual for me to be asked what I found that day. By pure chance a man, someone I actually knew, heard of the finds. It turns out he and his brother used to play at the limekiln back in the 50's. . The quarry was used as a dump, and in the dump they found the sword, as well as toys, and other things from the thirties and forties. Apparently this was a war souveneer that had been thrown out. He told me they played with the sword, throwing it at trees etc., which is how it broke apart. I asked him what happened to the blade and he said they took it home, "threw it around", but he doesn't remember what happened to it.
It kind of kills a find when it is old, but lost fairly recently. That's why I don't consider it a best find. I still think it's cool though for what it is, and I thought you'd like to see it. Thanks for looking.
p.s. There are two other pieces to a sword hilt that I never found, and never even considered looking for. Those were the good luck charms (menuki) that were often wrapped under the hndle wrap. On a sword of this quality they would have been gold. There's little doubt that if anybody found them they would not know what they had, and would suppose they were pins or cheap decorations of some kind.
The carved iron object ("laughing frog") I found under a tree root at the kiln above the small quarry. It was covered with dirt and some rust, and I almost winged it, thinking it was a washer of some sort. It's called a "tsuba" which is the hand guard. The silver object, the "hubaki" which goes on the blade in front of the tsuba, I found the same day along with one of the brass "seppa", the washers that go on both sides of the tsuba.
The "fuchi" and "kashira" are the objects that go behind the blade and on the butt of the handle. There are both made of a gold amalgom which is inlaid with gold. I have yet to identify the family crest. I found the fuchi first, and I didn't know what I'd found. It was so clean and shiny I believed it might have been part of a makeup case or a lighter. It wasn't until five years later I was able to find the Kashira.
All the objects, other than the first three, were found in a very wide area. I'd imagined all sorts of scenerios as to how they might have been lost. Maybe a Japanese family around the time of Perry worked the kilns, etc.. I eventually found the answer, and found why I was never able to find the blade.
I'd detect daily in the summers, and I hit the pub at night. It was pretty much a ritual for me to be asked what I found that day. By pure chance a man, someone I actually knew, heard of the finds. It turns out he and his brother used to play at the limekiln back in the 50's. . The quarry was used as a dump, and in the dump they found the sword, as well as toys, and other things from the thirties and forties. Apparently this was a war souveneer that had been thrown out. He told me they played with the sword, throwing it at trees etc., which is how it broke apart. I asked him what happened to the blade and he said they took it home, "threw it around", but he doesn't remember what happened to it.
It kind of kills a find when it is old, but lost fairly recently. That's why I don't consider it a best find. I still think it's cool though for what it is, and I thought you'd like to see it. Thanks for looking.
p.s. There are two other pieces to a sword hilt that I never found, and never even considered looking for. Those were the good luck charms (menuki) that were often wrapped under the hndle wrap. On a sword of this quality they would have been gold. There's little doubt that if anybody found them they would not know what they had, and would suppose they were pins or cheap decorations of some kind.
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