Swords Japanese

Last, but not least, there is the intentional coloring or patination of metals, of prime importance in sculpture and decorative arts, as this is (in many cases) the key factor in the visual coherence and significance of objects. There is some evidence of their early use in Chinese bronze mirrors, in Japanese sword guards made with alloys especially developed for patination, in the classical Greek and Roman bronzes, in Islamic metalwork, and in cast bronze sculptures from the Renaissance to the present day [280]. 

Canavalia gladiata (white sword bean, Japanese jackbean) SBI-1, SBI-2, SBI-3 Chymotrypsin (L48-S49), Trypsin (L21-S22) [220]... 

Shagreen has been used to bind the hilts of swords, as it is decorative and gives a good grip. Japanese warriors had discovered this by the ei th century, and the material was again put to this use in the American Civil War. 

Japanese oflleials of a certain grade wear two swords, the hilts projecting out a foot in front of the person of the wearer. One of them ts a heavy, two-handed weapon, pcdnted, and sharp aa a naor the other short, like a Roman sword, and kept tn the tame M ceable state. 

The trenchant blade of the Japanese sword is notorious , wrote Lord Redesdale. It is said that the best blades will, in the hands of an expert swordsman, cut through the dead bodies of three men, laid one upon the other, at a blow. The swords of the Shogun were wont to be tested on the corpses of executed criminals it is said that the public headsman was entrusted with this duty and that for a nose-medicine or bribe he would substitute the sword of a private individual for that of his lord, and that the executioner earned many a fee from those who wished to see how their swords would cut off a head. 

When a sword had once been proved to be reliable, its value was priceless. Upon the death of its owner it was not usually buried in the warrior s grave, but was appropriated by his conqueror or by his next of kin for future use. Thus the weapons became christened with suggestive names and developed a sort of pedigree. Numerous examples are quoted in the Icelandic Sagas, and similar tales are associated with the famous swords of the Japanese Samurai. 

Japanese swords have traditionally been very lightly coated with choji, clove oil mixed variously with camellia seed oil and light mineral oil. Camellia oil has large amounts of oleic acid in its triglyceride (Firestone, 1999). 

Robinson BW. (1971) The Arts of the Japanese Sword. Faber and Faber, London. 

Early ironworkers removed this excess carbon by heating and hammering. Japanese and Syrian sword makers repeatedly folded layers of iron over each other and continued to hammer to break up the carbon so it could combine with oxygen to form carbon monoxide, although they probably did not know what they were actually doing. The result was a... 

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