Iron tsuba of round form with design of lattice (kōshi-mon, 格子文) cut in openwork (sukashi), with low relief shallow linear carving along the bars. Well forged plate with brown-ish hue. To the right of nakago-ana there is a clear inscription of the character Shō (正), which is explained by Markus Sesko is follows: "The Shinsa obviously recognized more from the signature when having the tsuba in hand, i.e. they were confident to say it is signed "Shōami" but the rest is illegible (ika-fumei, 以下不明). That is, if they were just able to read the first character SHŌ (正) and saw that there were two more, most likely A (阿) and MI (弥), they would have put those character in boxes on the paper. Boxes around characters namely means that the character is not 100% legible but it can be assumed what it is." Momoyama or early Edo period. Dimensions: 85.9 mm diameter, 3.6 mm thickness at seppa-dai. Weight: 79 g. NBTHK certificate № 425069 with attestation: Hozon - "Worthy of preservation". A similar tsuba is presented at Japanese Sword Fittings from the R. B. Caldwell Collection. Sale LN4188 "HIGO". Sotheby's, 30th March 1994, №15. The description says: "A rare early Kamakura-bori tsuba. Nambokucho period (late 14th century). Of circular form, the dark plate carved and pierced with a gate design, the struts with double engraved lines. Unsigned. 8.5 cm." The lot was sold for 1,840 GBP. We have two possible explanations of the discrepancy between Sotheby's and Shinsa/Sesko attribution: 1) either Sotheby's or Shinsa/Sesko were wrong in their attribution or 2) these are two different pieces, one - Kamakura-bori from the 14th century and another - Shōami from 16th/17th century. Anyway, I would consider my piece as a Shōami tsuba of Momoyama - early Edo period, just for the sake of modesty.    

Iron tsuba of a round form (maru-gata) pierced (sukashi) with two six-petal flowers at 6 and 12 o’clock and modified lozenges at 3 and 9 o’clock, and inlaid in brass (suemon-zōgan) with tendrils and flowers (chrysanthemum, cherry blossom, Chinese bellflower, paulownia); openings outlined with scalloped brass wire. The plate is slightly concave with traces of lacquer on the surface. Nakago-ana plugged with copper sekigane. Some elements of inlay missing. The rim with conspicuous tekkotsu, quite worn. Measurements:  Height 92.0 mm; Width 86.3 mm; thickness at seppa-dai 3.2 mm, at rim 4.2 mm. Time: Late Muromachi (1514 – 1573) or earlier.

Iron tsuba of quatrefoil form with design of bamboo stems and leaves in openwork (sukashi) decorated with carving (kebori) . Copper sekigane. Early Edo period, late 17th century (Kanbun / Enppo era). First generation Kanshiro of Nishigaki school in Higo Province died in the sixth year of Genroku, 1693, at the age of 81). Height: 74.4 mm; Width: 74.2 mm; Centre thickness: 4.9 mm. Rounded rim. The design was quite popular among the Higo masters.     The design of my tsuba closely resembles the one at the last example (Sasano 1994 №280), however, the form (mine is quatrefoil) and the execution (strength) are very different, which result in a very different spirit of my piece.  

Iron tsuba of round form with two ebi (lobster) on omote (obverse side) and shika (deer) among scattered momiji (maple leaves) on ura (reverse side) motif in brass takabori (high relief) suemon-zōgan. Traces of lacquer. Unsigned. Late Muromachi / Momoyama period (late 16th / Early 17th century). Dimensions: 69.0.6 mm (H) x 69.6 mm (W) x 3.4 mm (T, seppa-dai). Weight: 92.6 g. Illustrated at: The Lundgren Collection of Japanese Swords, Sword Fittings and A Group of Miochin School Metalwork. Christie's Auction: Tuesday, 18 November 1997, London. Sales "GOTO-5881". Christie's, 1997. - #2 at page 7. Provenance: The second John Harding; The Lundgren Collection. Description at Christie's: "The iron plate depicting two lobsters in takabory and brass takazogan, the reverse similarly decorated with deer among scattered maple leaves, square mimi, late Muromachi / early Momoyama period (late 16th/early 17th century) Diameter 68 mm, mimi thickness 4 mm. Provenance: The second John Harding." Also at: JAPANESE SWORD-FITTINGS & METALWORK IN THE LUNDGREN COLLECTION. Published by Otsuka Kogeisha, Tokyo 1992. № 134. Description on page 173: Sword guard with design of shrimps in inlay (scarlet [sic] maple leaves and deer on the reverse side). Unsigned. Heianjō inlay school. Vertical 6.85 cm, horizontal 6.90 cm, Th. of rim 0.40 cm. Iron. Taka-bori relief and brass inlay. Momoyama period, 16th - 17th century. According to Merrily Baird, maple leaves, especially if paired with the deer, allude to autumnal tradition of Japanese aristocracy of viewing the seasonal changes of color in the Nara area. The lobster is typical Japanese ebi, - it lacks prominent claws, and has a spiny shell. As a symbol of longevity and good fortune, lobster is a staple of New Year's decoration.

Thin iron tsuba of round form with design of family crests (mon) and arabesque (karakusa) in brass or copper inlay (suemon-zōgan) and occasional scattered brass dots or nail heads in ten-zōgan. Seppa-dai outlined with brass wire in the shape of a rope; kozuka-hitsu-ana outlined with scalloped brass wire. Rounded rim with iron bones (tekkotsu). The surface covered with lacquer (urushi). Ōnin school. Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Family crests on the face: 1:30: Two lines (double stripe) encircled (maruni futatsu biki). 4:30: Stylized clove (choji). 7:30: Divided rhombus, or four lozenges incorporated in one (wari-bishi); it is also called Takeda-bishi, the family crest of warrior Takeda Shingen (among the others). 10:00: Stylized Genji-mon (Genji kō-zu) or incense symbol. On the reverse: 2:00 - "Chinese cloud" not a crest. 5:00: Bit (Kutsuwa) 7:30: Number four in a fan (ōgi-san) 10:30: Two dots in a well frame (igeta).      

Iron tsuba of mokko form decorated with brass flat inlay (hira-zōgan) all over on both sits and going over the rounded rim. Black patina, well-forged iron. Hitsu-ana outlined with brass inlay. Former owner's catalogue number in red paint reads 25-17-61. Gary D. Murtha provides detailed account of this type of tsuba in Japanese Sword Guards. Onin-Heianjo-Yoshiro book on pages 118-122. He calls this type of tsuba "Heianjo Mogusa Tsuba": "The term mogusa is commonly used for an inlay design that represents an aquatic weed, similar to a duck weed or sago plant, which is known to quickly invade and overtake bodies of water. [...] Perhaps the visual image has some cross-over meaning for samurai in that, like the plant, a small aggressive samurai force could conquer a larger foe/area." I tried to find any reference to "mogusa" in literature, - to no avail. Neither on the vastness of internet, including Wikipedia... I did find the "duckweed" (one word), but visually it has nothing to do with the pattern on tsuba. "Sago plant" probably stands for 'Sago palm", and there is some very distant reminiscence in the construction of the sago palm leaf and the said design of inlay, but I would not go that far. In the old catalogues, such as Naunton and Hawkshaw collections, this pattern as called "sea weed" and/or "conventional fir". I will stick to these descriptions, tested by the time, and leave the enigmatic "mogusa" alone. Obviously, this type of tsuba has transformed into Yoshirō tsuba, both in Kaga province and Bizen province. Momoyama period (ca. 1660). Dimensions: 74.5 x 73.7 x 4.4 mm.