Description
Japanese ivory tanto. Intricate carvings of dragon and hillside landscape on knives sheath and pommel. Brass piece on beginning of knife, actual steel in superb condition, stamped stainless steel 440 China. Two headed dragon dagger holder, also intricate design. Bought at estate sale, no further information was provided.
Category
Other
Medium
Not too sure, from looking online, I found only one identical one which was ivory and was sold at an auction.
Distinguishing marks
Brass piece in beginning of knife.
Condition
Excellent
Size and dimensions of this item
Sheath measures 13” and stand is 15” long
Date Period
From the only other one I found identical to it it was in the 19th century.
Price
1000
For Sale?
Yes
Re: Antique Japanese ivory dragon tanto
This is 440 stainless steel made in China and so I’m guessing modern or mid century and not ivory and definitely not Japanese.
Here’s the exact object. https://www.chairish.com/product/2232089/chinese-carved-bone-dragon-swo…
https://www.etsy.com/listing/780817493/chinese-carved-bone-dragon-sword… Those two should give you an idea of what they’re selling for.
Re: Antique Japanese ivory dragon tanto
Those are the people I bought it from, both website listings are from them. They’re the estate sale company I bought it from... I guess they haven’t taken the listing down yet. I just bought it yesterday.
Upon further inspection, it’s Chinese mid century. But that’s the only thing I can find... besides the listings from the company I bought it from, apparently it’s bone.
I can’t find it anywhere else though.
Re: Antique Japanese ivory dragon tanto
I wonder if they had more than the one you bought? Odd that they’d keep it up.
Re: Antique Japanese ivory dragon tanto
You know what... first off thank you for the links to the item, because I only had one of those and didn’t know about the Etsy listing until I saw it from you. I took it to a local antique shop and immediately the owner confirmed it was plastic and newer, something u could buy at a gift shop for $50. When I told him the description of the item in the auction, there was no mention of it being made of bone, but when you look up both other listings of the item which were both posted by this “reputable” estate auction site, both posts confirmed it was bone, and vintage mid century. The kind man at the antique shop taught me a valuable lesson since I’m new at auctions and antiques, he told me some companies like the auctioneers I bought from will post an item in multiple places for a significant amount more than it’s worth so when you look it up before bidding on it you think you’re getting an amazing deal. He also mentioned how dishonest that was since people rely on these auctioneers for credible Info pertaining to the items bought. He immediately told me to call them and let them know what I found and to ask for a refund, and if they make an issue to call the credit card company. I told him it was a noN refundable purchase and be told me Absoutely not! To call them and get my money back since it’s not what it’s supposed to be and that that’s fraud. I called the auction place and they said they’ll refund my money.... but it goes to show you how some people are. The auction place I bought it from is a super high end place and they typically don’t sell much of anything under $1000. Whereas this nice owner of the small antique shop was trustworthy and honest and helped me so much, even though his store was more Knick knacks. I would say this is a pretty crapping loss with the time invested in this item but at least I learned my first lesson in antiquing. I had no idea some companies were such pieces of work to completely trick people into something like that. I honestly felt super betrayed especially this being my first auction buy. Thank you again for your links, it’s good to have the info just in case there’s an issue. If they give me even an ounce of issue with the refund I will blast their company from here (New England) to California to show people what type of garbage this ruthless company does to buyers. We live in the age of social media, something like this could get picked up very quickly and shine a light on what type of company they are to do business with. What a damn shame.