Scabbards of japanese daggers

[ortos]

Hi all!
I was interested in the issue of covering the scabbards of Japanese daggers. Most dagger sheaths are covered in either normal leather or shark skin in a deluxe version. There are also the usual varnishing of wooden scabbards. But then I came across a sea dagger with a scabbard covered with polished stingray skin. The blade is simple, machine-made with remnants of acid etching of the blade. Tell me, was the covering of the sheath of the dagger regulated by any decrees? Or, depending on the workshop and financial capabilities of the customer, were the daggers made individually with different coatings?
Thanks for the answer.

[ortos]

[ortos]

[ortos]

Photo of scabbard with shark skin

[Nick Komiya]

Regulations stipulated scabbard finish to be in "Black leather or Black Ray skin", so it was a matter of budget which one went for.

[ortos]

Thank you. Sometimes there are scabbards with brown leather. That is, this coverage is not consistent with the rules?

[Bruce Pennington]

If the dirk industry was anything like the sword industry, you'll see the regulations were narrow and specific, while the personal tastes of buyers and the desire to please them by shops (and make money) got broad and varied.

You have a nice collection going there, and the ray-skin covered one is pretty cool. As a collector, I think you are actually more in position to answer those questions better yourself. Important information is found in a study of the regs, but they cannot tell the whole story. Having the real thing (or a bunch of them!) in hand is the rest of the story.

[Nick Komiya]

Indeed, some examples like the one below look brownish, but the intention was to keep within regulations that called for black.

This finish was made by first sanding down the ray skin and then applying Japanese lacquer before polishing.

The tree sap that becomes lacquer base is originally brown and black lacquer is created by adding iron powder and letting the mix oxidize into black. Lacquer finish reacts to UV rays and continues to harden, changing the tone of color over time.

I'm no lacquer specialist, so I cannot tell whether this is a reaction over time, or just keeping the iron powder mix light.

Either way regulations stuck to black.

[ortos]

Thank you

[Alan M]

That is a great collection Ortos