T528.  Iron tsuba by the 5th Jingo Shigenaga. 7.4 x 8 x .45 cm. The nakago hitsu-ana is .9 x 3.2 cm. This tsuba is signed, “Yatsushiro Jingo Saku Shigenaga.” Shigenaga was the last of the Jingo masters. I don’t know his date of birth but he passed away in 1854. Jingo is one of the groups of Higo smiths. My last picture shows this tsuba on a page from Ito Mitsuru”s book on Hirata and Shimizu, next to 2 very similar tsuba by Shigenaga. Ito-sensei calls this design Japanese hat. The rim, hats, and hole at the bottom are lined with silver inlay. Note: while it appears that some of the silver is missing, that is not the case; the inlay was made this way.

Jingo is the group that gave us the wonderful owls and eagles in brass inlay on iron tsuba; they did great work. $1,200.