PietroParis

To state the obvious, the left column of the label reproduces the characters on the tsuba.

For the record, this link would have been sufficient: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313590069055

While I fully agree that buying modern ivory knockoffs supports crime and the slaughter of elephants, I think that the question referred to antique ivory netsuke. For those the legislation varies a lot depending on the location. For example, pre-1947 ivory artefacts (not raw ivory) can currently be bought and sold freely within the EU, but their import/export to/from the EU requires a certificate identifying them as antiques. In Japan it is legal to sell/buy even modern ivory artefacts, but it is illegal to export them. I presume that within the US the rules vary from state to state.

It always bears repeating that I know nothing about blades, but I notice that in Ray’s example the mark does not look exactly the same on the two sides either.

Since you appear to be quite proud of the price you paid, it must have been a bargain. 50 AUD?

I too see an error page

Also, see this: https://varshavskycollection.com/collection/tsu-0394-2019/

Gourds?

The lacquered decoration depicts Takaramono (treasures), a classic Japanese motif. They are collected on the last page of volume 3 of Hokusai's Manga:

OK then, picture frame it is! To be clear, I was asking just out of curiosity, the thought of bidding on it never crossed my mind.

Any luck?

Here’s the video: https://zacke.smugmug.com/Fine-Japanese-Art-Auction-4621/Lot-07/i-5C37nNT/A The auction is tomorrow, good stuff but generally beyond my means: https://www.zacke.at/auction/details/JAP0621-fine-Japanese-art/?au=26

Nothing special, the title question just reminded me of the Full Metal Jacket character who names his rifle "Charlene" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjXadFaSAJM

It's a different auction house - this one in Belgium. "Drouot Digital" is an aggregator site for auctions. Of all the explanations proposed above, "bokken tsuba" seems the least unlikely to me, but what do I know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb_CbdREID0

Yes, the other side is decorated: BTW, this is the link to the auction in the (unlikely!) case that anybody is interested: https://www.drouotonline.com/l/15215803--tsuba-en-bronze-patine-a-deco

Congratulations, a beginner collector with six Juyo-level blades seems a rather exceptional beast...

The hole is nicely framed by the decoration, it does not look like it was added later.

Hi All, This object is currently on sale in a French auction. It is described as a tsuba but it's obviously something else, it looks as if it would be attached to the saya rather than the blade. If that is the case, what would be the point of simulating a tsuba?

The results of these Parisian auctions are usually posted after a few days.

Tatsunao on Yahoo Japan:

Three Namitoshi on Yahoo Japan:

In the NBTHK museum it was explicitly allowed to take photos of the blades but not of the fittings (if I remember correctly they did stop me when I tried to sneak a picture of tsuba). I don’t recall any restrictions in the National Museum, where I took plenty of pictures and even interacted with the guards asking for information about the exhibits.

These are from the National Museum:

At the end of 2018 I was in Tokyo for a conference and it turned out that my hotel was just next to the NBTHK museum (I saw a flier about it in the reception). I went there and took some pictures, but I had no clue about what I was looking at (not sure I would be wiser now!). I've just bumped into those pictures again, I post them here for your enjoyment, after reducing their size. It's clear that I was attracted by nakago and kissaki, the importance of sugata was lost on me at the time...