Fuchi-kashira signed 政信 (Masanobu) on the copper tenjō of the fuchi. The original seller attributes it to Hamano Masanobu, fourth master of the main line of the Hamano school, one of the great machibori workshops of Edo. The subject is the shishi, the guardian lion. On the kashira, a gold shishi in high relief curls beneath a spiralling cloud; its body carries inlaid shakudō spots and the mane is worked strand by strand in kebori. On the fuchi, a second, recumbent shishi in a grey-brown metal that appears to be shibuichi, with gold spots, eyes and claws. Both rest on a finely grained black shakudō ground. The contrast between the gold of the kashira and the subdued tone of the fuchi is deliberate and binds the two pieces into one ensemble. The photographs show an even shakudō patina and gold without losses; there is some greenish residue in the recesses of the fuchi relief, and the copper tenjō has a stable orange mottling. The original seller declares an NBTHK 特別保存刀装具 (tokubetsu hozon tōsōgu) paper and a paulownia box, neither of which is photographed.