Shaolin Tai Chi Jian not Wudang, Wu Jian & Wen Jian, Taoist, Antique, Battle ready

[JoeCanada42]

before the fittings on the red dragon were seen to be crude, but this could be seen as part of the Daoist tradition of taking things as they come and not making an effort.

[JoeCanada42]

maybe its the fact that these can be found on eBay rather than a retail dealer ,
this fact takes away a honey pot , and customers

[werecow]

How flexible are the blades? Presumably not a hard rule but from what I understand, if they are very floppy they are most likely recent (I don't know if the reverse will tell you anything).

[Sajen]

The engravings on the blades I never have seen by old examples, only by tourist or collector swords.
Compare!

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=jian
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=jian
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=jian
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=jian
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...highlight=jian

There are more jians shown here, look also sold pieces by dealers, not one jian which I can remember was described as authentic have had this engravings on the blade. But like said, I know next to nothing about them but we have members here who can give a very educated opinion.

Regards,
Detlef

[JoeCanada42]

no flexibility in either blades

at least one auction house in Britain called mine 19c

I like mine better then those, your not clear if you are showing me examples u think are fake or authentic? those have no carvings but I can show you old ones with carvings.... and many new ones without.

great river Taoist center on YouTube shows a Jian with a dragon carving much more Mulan style.

there are reproduction swords obviously, and obviously the old ones will look like the reproductions , thats why they are called that no...
the old ones are definitely easy to distinguish from the new.
if you can make a replica to this quality you dont need to be frauding people with fakes.
acutaly i think the idea of "aged fraud " replicas is exagerated, most replicas are sold as replicas originally, its just the middlemen who may misrepresent.

this is my opinion on Jian swords...
Chinese bronze swords I find scary but interesting, but of course casting bronze is easier then forging steel, tapered, fullered steel,

most Qing Jian's I see are wall hanger quality, without good taper , hardness, fullers, ,

[JoeCanada42]

dragon

[werecow]

@Joe: Do they have a lot of distal taper?

[JoeCanada42]

yup, as you would expect in a true old quality piece made for use. I will get some photos

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by JoeCanada42

I like mine better then those, your not clear if you are showing me examples u think are fake or authentic? those have no carvings but I can show you old ones with carvings.... and many new ones without.

I have shown you these threads where I think that are shown old examples and I want to show you that it's difficult to find the real deal, read through the given threads.
And what auction houses state is complete irrelevant, I have seen a lot of wrong described items by auction houses, I never believe them. Mandaus described as African machete or Asian weapons described as African and reverse.
Hope an expert joins in, like I said, I can be wrong.

Regards,
Detlef

[Gavin Nugent]

Sadly none of these swords, owned or pictured are genuine antiques but are of a very modern type, in some instances made to look older than they are.

Very few auction houses know what they are selling, they do it for the commissions and commissions out with every sale. This can be said too for specialist auction houses... I too have been fooled by clever images, lucky enough to be provided a full refund once substantiated.

Full length Jian prior to the Republican types and some of the more common pattern later Qing examples are simply extremely hard to find. I've have friends and clients on want lists here who have been chasing one for near a decade... and I actively seek such things daily.

Don't despair though, it is all a learning curve and plan to put some decent money aside to secure a genuine old one....

If you want something to practice with, there are a good many modern faithful reproductions... or choose a nice Republication example like this example pictured...
The one pictured is what I call a lucky find. That activity within the blade is actually hidden under an original bright steel polish... it is just the camera angle that bought it forth.

For collecting, dig a little deeper in to museum collections in the UK and USA... and there are a good many smaller museums elsewhere around the world with good material to study.

[JoeCanada42]

A 60-year-old Chinese farmer who found an old sword blade digging in the ground used it as a kitchen knife for several years before realizing its value and historical importance. He may have disallowed efforts to determine its exact age by polishing and sharpening it.

see photo


"Don't despair though, it is all a learning curve and plan to put some decent money aside to secure a genuine old one"

far more likely if I am to acquire another! quality genuine old one, it will be cheap, because its will be from a seller who was misinformed

I recently visited swords and antique weapons .com, they got a Mandau but I think mine is nicer and more genuine. more unique by many means.
I looked at the Jian's that have been selling over there, again none that I would ever trade for mine. infact I even saw presentation Jian swords sold over there...

I think a true treasure will never be sold at a retail dealer, the best treasure are found among the hoi polloi , made easier with ebay...

[JoeCanada42]

I have acquired many unbelievably hard to find even impossible to believe things , more so of late, for cheap ,way below retail, not from dealers or from pros, in fact u just cant find such treasure at dealers because good stuff moves up the chain with ease not put on market.

we all know old blades get remounted, some many times, how can any one say what is a reproduction without handling the blade or examining it, unless you have a stake in the matter , and want to influence public perception perhaps? in which case such biased comments I hope people take with caution..

always everything with a grain of salt, maybe dont trust auctions?, where good prices can be had. but can you trust dealers?

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by JoeCanada42

A 60-year-old Chinese farmer who found an old sword blade digging in the ground used it as a kitchen knife for several years before realizing its value and historical importance. He may have disallowed efforts to determine its exact age by polishing and sharpening it.

A typical late qing marking, nothing remarkable there.

Here are a few titles you could dig in to if you have interest in the types...

One of these titles in particular will show you the sword at least one of the above was copied from.

I've never really owned many to be fair.....