Q876. Shingen iron tsuba. 8 x 8.7 x .5 cm at the raised rim. The nakago hitsu-ana is .7 x 2.6 cm. The story goes that a Daimyo, a provincial governor, who toyed with tsuba on the side, came up with the idea to add wire ornamentation to older iron place tsuba. And so we have Shingen Tsuba. This one is a bit fancier than the usual: the wire bands follow the mokko shape and the inner band is braided. It’s interesting to follow the bands around and down holes in the plate to the other side and try to understand how it  all was done: pretty impressive. Condition is excellent; there is no break or loss of the wire. $395.