Authentic antique Japanese menuki, offered from a well-known collection and sold as used. Menuki are the small metal ornaments fitted beneath the cord wrapping on each side of a sword handle; they fill the palm and carry the decorative theme of the mounting. For this piece the supplier gives nothing further: no motif, metal, school, period or measurements are stated, and the collection is not named. The photographs are therefore the entire description of what is being sold.

An Illinois collector who already knows menuki will want to look at the images carefully and, if the subject or metal matters, ask us for close-ups of the front and the reverse before ordering. Pieces from a known collection carry the appeal of provenance, so ask whether any paperwork or old collection tags accompany this one. Kept dry and handled by the edges, antique menuki need little else.

Key features

• Authentic antique Japanese menuki
• From a well-known collection
• Sold as used

Ships to your door in Illinois as a sword fitting.