Tokubetsu kichō (Especially precious)
Inscription: Ushū no Jū Shōami Kiyonari
By Shōami Kiyonari
Early to mid-Edo period
Donated by the Homma family
Considered a type of sword mount or guard, a tsuba is usually a round (or occasionally squarish) guard positioned at the end of the grip of bladed Japanese weapons. Shōami Kiyonari (1647–1726) was a blacksmith of the Shōnai and Shōami schools. The Shōami were a school of swordsmiths who emerged in Kyoto towards the end of the Muromachi Period (1336–1573); in particular, they specialised in tsuba. Aesthetically speaking, their tsuba are characterized by abundant movement with symmetry.