This iron tsuba, the hand guard from a Japanese sword, is listed as SKU MGJ750 in used condition and comes boxed. Its outline is a diamond rather than a round or oval form, and it stands 3 5/8 inches, or 9.2 cm, in vertical height. The decoration is inlay picked out with brass highlights against the iron ground. The guard is unsigned, so there is no maker's name cut into the plate to attribute it.

A boxed, unsigned iron guard in a diamond outline suits an Illinois collector who buys tsuba on shape and workmanship rather than on signature, and the brass inlay gives a plain iron plate a point of visual interest. At just over nine centimeters tall it displays well in its box or alongside other iron guards. Condition is used, as pictured, and the listing gives no age or school, so judge the work on what you can see in the images.

Key features

• Iron tsuba, diamond shape
• Inlay with brass highlights
• Unsigned
• 3 5/8 inches (9.2 cm) vertical height
• Boxed, used condition

The tsuba ships in its box to your door at any Illinois address.