An iron tsuba of slightly upright round shape (tate-marugata), unsigned, attributed by the original seller to the Hirata school, the family of enamellers in the service of the shogunate who kept the shippō technique alive from the early Edo period to its close. The theme is family crests (kamon) scattered over the plate, as on the pages of an armorial: the photographs show six roundels on the obverse (leaves with stars, tomoe, kiri, a crane and a pattern of squares in a cut roundel) and three on the reverse, with flowers and a stylised landscape. The roundels, in translucent yellow, green, red and turquoise enamel with metal-wire cloisons, are inlaid into the hammered iron plate. The rim is worked as a twisted rope (nawame-mimi) left in relief. Copper sekigane are fitted above and below the central opening. According to the seller it measures 8.0 × 7.6 cm, with a rim thickness of 0.32 cm, and comes in a paulownia-wood box with cushion. The iron patina is brown and stable; raking views show a few reddish surface areas. The seller declares an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, which does not appear in the photographs.