Iron tsuba of irregular outline (kawarigata), signed on the seppadai 赤城軒元孚 (Sekijōken Motozane) followed by his kaō; the chiselled signature reads clearly in the photographs. Motozane, of the Mito school of Hitachi province, was the son of Motonori, trained in the Yokoya tradition; according to the original seller he was born in 1741 and enjoyed a long career with many pupils. The design, titled 'flowers' (kaki) by the original seller, is built like a crest: five lanceolate leaves in relief (nikubori), their veins cut in crisp grooves, between which radiate pierced stems (ji-sukashi) ending in round berries that form the outline. The dark brown iron has a fine-grained ishime surface, even on both faces. The two hitsu-ana are closed with polished black plugs. The photographs show good condition: no knocks or cracks, a few superficial reddish specks on the berries and fine scratches on the plugs. The original seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, which is not photographed, and dimensions of 76 × 72.5 mm with a thickness of 4.5 mm at the seppadai. It comes in a plain kiri box without inscription.