Product Info

Shakudo is a Japanese alloy of copper with a small amount of gold that has a beautiful dark patina. Historically, it was used in Samurai swords to decorate the mountings, with scenes and figures overlaid in gold and silver.  When the Samurai were being abolished in the 1870’s the decorative parts of Samurai swords were often converted into jewelry, and the swordmakers turned their skills to jewelry production.

These wonderful cufflinks were made from two Menuki, which are small decorative items that originally were bound into the handle of a Samuai sword to improve the grip. One of the Menuki depicts two rats flanking bales, out of which a cute critter's head has popped to look around. The other Menuki depicts a fisherman; while this Menuki is fairly worn, smoothing out the details, a fish can be seen in the lower right peeking from behind his golden trousers and foot.

Based on the style of the cufflink fitting, the antique Menuki were converted into cufflinks in the mid-20th century.

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