J132.  Elaborate iron sukashi tsuba with gold nunome.  6.8 x 7.5 x .4 cm.  The nakago hitsu-ana is .8 x 2.8 cm.  Tsuba that once would have been marked as Namban are being reevaluated.  The consignor of this piece has this to say about it, “Kanton Tsuba. Unsigned. Classic 19th-century Japanese copy of a Chinese design in the Qianlong style. This late Edo tsuba reprises a Chinese design of the 18th century, probably copied from a Qing-dynast Dao-Hushou (sword guard). Many such guards were produced as gifts and souvenirs. Inferior quality guards were often cast. This guard is very well-carved, in a fine iron plate, with nunome highlights and an archaic wave-pattern inscribed on the seppa-dai. An excellent starter piece for a new collector of Nanban tsuba”