Type: Iron tsuba
Nakago-ana Dimensions: 7.9Wx25.2Lx5.1D
Mass: 127.6 g
This piece is very beautiful, featuring dense fine radiating lines on the iron plate, a small blossom crest, and a set of udenuki-no-ana.
For Satsuma province (now Western Kagoshima) samurai, the two holes in the bottom edge of the tsuba served a practical function. Owing to their intense, quick-attack style of Jigen-ryu, conflicts could turn deadly quickly. In order to provide a reminder, a seal of paper was used to fasten the tsuba to the saya, which had to be intentionally broken by a hot-headed samurai in order to draw his blade. The example here has been stylized into a gourd for aesthetic flair.
