Inscribed name: Arichika
By Watanabe Arichika
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. The carving on the tsuba depicts a dragon draped in clouds ascending to the sky, a popular and auspicious motif for success in life.
Watanabe Arichika (1660–1742) was a blacksmith from the Shōnai district who trained under the Tsuruoka blacksmith Satō Chinkyu as well as Tsuchiya Yasuchika I.