Small heavy jian sword
 

Hello everybody,

i bought this small jian sword,
I think it's an old piece with nice brass-bronze ? mounts

I just received it and was surprised by the weight of the sword and the thickness of the blade,
almost 1cm thick with a diamond cross section shape.
I it usual ?

Seems of good facture, really sharp edge
the tip is round.

The blade...

Thank you for your comments !

I have an unpleasant feeling that only the blade has historical value.

Hello,
I found on internet this old sword with the same heavy blade ,
the hilt seems looks like too, guard too but is reversed,

for the mounts, yes a bit strange, there is velvet under the up and tip mounts,
the dragon and the tip mount looks like this one, maybe a copy of this old model ?
but really well made-chiselled.

The jian disassembled,

old velvet cover remains or just a piece put on a ''new'' scabbard ?
Any advices about age ?
End Qing era ?

And one more picture of the thick - razorblade edge

I find amazing how the could do that on such a large blade !

Kind regards

Ciao
your sword is absolutely fine.
all good, nothing wrong with the sword or the scabbard
but not very old, 1900 +-20 years
velvet, snake skin or lacquer (turtle scales type) are common
:)

The sword is completely typical of products from the city of Longquan. These were made 100-130 years ago, are made today and will be made 100 years later. ;)
Bronze parts are now copied very accurately, they are easy to confuse with the originals. Modern Chinese imitators are very fond of using "antique mahogany" wood. Old masters used it quite rarely.
P.S. For the first time I see velvet 100 years of age, which has not lost color in those areas in which the sun's rays fell.

Hello and thank you guys !!

I never saw a jian scabbard with velvet cover ( turtoise snake-shark skin yes...)
( but I am not a specialist at all !)

Yes I think it's mahogany wood, old ?...
so, Ren, are you kidding when you talk about this untouched by sun 100 years old ( piece of ) velvet ?
Maybe a shadow sword ;)

Kind regards

"Antique Mahogany" is a term used by Chinese antique dealers when translating into English.
In fact, this type of wood is not related to the real mahogany from Cuba, Dominican Republic and Honduras. Its Chinese name is suanzhi 酸枝 (literally - "sour branch") and identifies the wood of several trees from the genus Dalbergia. The Chinese write that to determine this type of wood, the surface should be scratched with a sharp tool - a specific sour smell should appear.

May be :) I use Google translator and sometimes it turns out funny.

But the restorers taught me to pay special attention to the condition of the old velvet. There are always obvious differences in shades of color between areas that are open and hidden from light.

The guard on the sword in your post was not installed backward. It is put on the proper way, it's just that it's a different design with the "quillons" facing forward. You can see the hollow part in the front where the blade comes out. This shows that the guard is on the proper way because this opening contains the mouth of the scabbard when the sword is sheathed.

Most jian have guards which have this recess to accept the end of the scabbard. In this respect the design is similar to that of the crossguards on Turkish kilij which also have an opening for the scabbard mouth.

The exception are those jian with flat disc guards like those seen on sabers.