Spartancrest

First guess would be Shoami - "style". Its not signed and a pretty conventional design based I think on Chinese landscape paintings. The ategane in the hitsu points to several mountings and the gold nunome edging lifts its quality a little. Please be aware the images should be the other way up with the narrow part of the nakago-ana pointing upwards [cutting edge] the way they would be seen when mounted. It is interesting you say the way it looks like it was molded in clay - that sentiment was held by many early European writers back in the 19th century and the skill of the tsuba maker is still inspiring that thought even today.

Well if you have the right koshirae - this is the Shachi tachi kake you need. https://www.jauce.com/auction/f1048239985

This seller has a variety of cheap boxes, you could do a bulk deal and save money even if you throw the inserts away. https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_ssn=yumi3go55&store_name=mugendojapan&_dmd=2&_oac=1&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562

Jean S. I found this auction piece from back in 24.06.2021, https://www.lempertz.com/en/catalogues/lot/1179-1/708-an-iron-tsuba-edo-period-early-19th-century.html it has several elements close to your piece.

Geraint, thanks yes I am looking for less obstructive means of holding the tsuba on, a nice small toggle with a loop would work. [as long as I don't loose the toggle.] Something like this with a groove in it might work - just need it to be as small as possible.

Thomas which CHURCH catalogue do you refer to? I take it you mean A. H. Church but which particular publication?

Taking a suggestion from Dan Derooy [well his wife really] I 'repurposed' an old Obi as a hanging scroll to display tsuba. The problem being how to attach tsuba to a fabric background without causing damage to the tsuba or puckering the fabric. Solution buttons. By using buttons that fit through the nakago-ana with enough thread to allow removal and a size that can retain the top of the nakago-ana it worked out fine. I had some Japanese fan buttons, flat and thin that served the purpose, but ideally a smaller button or toggle would work even better. My particular Obi was black with gold highlights which is not ideal for black tsuba display as they tend to disappear in the background but the lining was red so I folded and stitched the black over as a frame. I used oversized wooden knitting needles as rods, top and bottom, but these will be replaced with suitable dowels latter - it is a prototype and a work in progress. So if you need to display your guards in a different way give it a try.

A kagamishi guard here very much like yours - This one has wasps, some of which are hard to make out. https://tsubakansho.com/tag/cast/ You may be on the right track with squirrels but that hole in the middle is odd. The animal(?) may even be related to this thread.

Apparently there was a build your own 'tsuba' collection - bi-weekly in Japan. Looks like it only made it to 4 tsuba replicas- I wonder if the display boxes are still available? https://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/kazuw01/diary/202204040000/?scid=we_blg_pc_rank_user_2_img Issue one on Jauce [issue price was 799 yen] selling for 2,000 yen https://www.jauce.com/auction/x1047020812 I guess this means there are four more types of 'fakes' to avoid!

Jean-S. Yes the 'silver' one is a modern casting - well when I say modern it could go back to the 1950s Vintage casting? Curran is correct yours is the pick of the bunch.

Getting off the topic a bit but you might like this image from the Kyoto National Museum. [sorry the image is grainy]

No I would not worry too much, museum pieces generally don't get a lot of care. There may also be a lot of difference with the lighting of the images. The mokko shape of yours is a nice change. You would really need to worry if it looked like this. https://www.jauce.com/auction/m437707749

Similar designs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art - 91.1.819 and the Cleveland Museum of Art - 1919.539 Metropolitan has theirs as by : Masayoshi (正義), first name Sadashichi (定七), was an Edo-based artist active at the end of the 18th century who had studied with the Masakata (正方, ?-1774), the third master of the local Bushū-Itō (武州伊藤) School.

A large winged, version, a little worn but nice design. https://www.jauce.com/auction/w1046661844

But Thomas the omote does face the user - which would mean the 'prongs' face the blade. Just the same as the spear.

Perhaps it serves the same purpose as a boar spear? Stops the spear head going straight through? It is a curious find, thanks Bjorn.

I have an Ito guard where the fukurin was removed because it caused corrosion damage. Some metals just react badly. Jesse if you are looking for a joint seam it should, as a rule be at the bottom just under the nakago-ana, the nawame [rope] design on yours would help to disguise it.

Bjorn - What is it? It looks like someone has 'Steam-Punked' a spear! [OK. Yari]

A 1938 version of the book - https://www.jauce.com/auction/n1037343636 small 18.5 cm x 12.5 cm Why they don't show any of the contents when they try to sell a book is baffling. [approx 100 pages all in Japanese 62 B&W tsuba images]

Thanks Manuel, it is a hard one with so much missing.

I have had this guard for some time but not bothered to see what can be made of the very faint mei, It is so worn and thin this is the best image I could get. Any rough ideas? I believe there was a rat or mouse inlay at one time - that has gone, I can't see any cut down marks but I have seen a very similar piece with a rim.

Thanks Jon and Piers, so two legs, [prongs] would not work for the same purpose. The red 'coral' or 'enamel' wouldn't last in a fire either. I think I can cross that off my list. Thanks for your insights and research.

Can anyone tell me what this object was used for? It has similar 'prongs' to the tsuba in this thread - but three rather than two. The original Japanese is 《氷》南部鉄器 鈴木盛久造 鉄製 五徳 蓋置 共箱 (検) 鉄瓶 鉄壷 初荷 骨董 古玩 古美術品 古道具 H61 https://www.jauce.com/auction/o1038455926 Nambu tekki - something to do with making tea or for tea ceremony?

A pretty worn auction piece just put up. https://www.jauce.com/auction/l1045839161

Apart from the Civets there is a small wild cat in Japan. The Tsushima leopard cat is an endangered wildcat inhabiting Tsushima islands, Nagasaki prefecture. It is regarded as a subspecies of the leopard cat and is thought to have arrived in Tsushima from the Asian continent about 100,000 years ago. - but the menuki don't look like cats at all and the Leopard cat does not have a thick bushy tail. I look forward to finding out what this mysterious animal is, as depicted on the menuki.