An iron tsuba in sukashi, the pierced openwork style, with a flower design cut through the plate. It carries a signature reading Bushu Yoshihiro. The guard comes boxed and is listed in used condition.

A tsuba is the hand guard of a Japanese sword, and iron sukashi guards are collected for the balance between the solid plate and the open design cut into it. This one has two things going for it with a Texas collector: a flower motif, which reads clearly in openwork, and a signature that names a maker from Bushu. A signed iron guard can be studied, compared against other signed examples and mounted on a koshirae or kept boxed as it arrives. The supplier gives no measurements, so the photographs are the reference for size and the condition of the iron.

Key features

• Iron tsuba, sukashi openwork
• Flower design
• Signed Bushu Yoshihiro
• Boxed, used condition

A tsuba is not a firearm, so it ships to your door in Texas without a dealer transfer.