Spartancrest

From https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/24212-rabbits/ Posted December 4, 2017 Walters Art Museum has two https://art.thewalters.org/object/51.389/ https://art.thewalters.org/object/51.390/ They also make modern fakes https://www.knifecenter.com/item/CISH2471/cas-hanwei-hunter-katana-l6-tool-steel-blade https://www.ebay.com/itm/145103688014 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=183282680271327&set=pb.100057687870485.-2207520000

Number 18 is from a particular school the darker image is from the Walters Art Museum https://art.thewalters.org/object/51.298/ The museum has trouble with lighting its items! https://www.city.toyama.toyama.jp/etc/muse/tayori/tayori05/tayori05.htm "In the Toyama domain, the second lord, Maeda Masatoshi, invited Somada Kiyosuke, a master of mother-of-pearl inlay work. From then on, the Somada family inherited the mother-of-pearl inlay technique and continued to produce works. Mother-of-pearl inlay was highly valued and was apparently used as a gift from the domain. Perhaps this tsuba was also made as a gift. The intricate patterns are beautifully expressed within the limited surface area, demonstrating the high level of skill of the Somada family."

Not as seen from the Southern hemisphere - we don't see some at all, while you "Northerners" won't see some we take for granted. The Southern Cross for instance - unless you live in Southern Texas and Florida, the most southerly islands of Japan, Europe not at all! It can only be seen south of roughly 25°N latitude. [Trivia: but the last time Southern Europeans saw the Southern Cross was 2,000 years ago due to the precession of the equinoxes] And lets not forget the constellations will appear upside down and flipped left to right! It must be very odd at the equator

I have a good memory for "faces" - most of my trouble is remembering when and where I saw that "face"

Is this a bit clearer?

http://aoijapan.com/img/fittings/2012/F12449.jpg Akasaka https://www.aoijapan.net/tsuba-mumei-unsigned-akasaka-school-tsuru-kame-sukashi/ Bushu ju Akasaka https://www.choshuya.co.jp/senrigan/鶴亀図透鐔　銘　武州住赤坂彦十郎忠時/鍔/忠時 https://eirakudo.shop/tosogu/tsuba/detail/481005 Higo papered as Higo https://wakeidou.com/pages/365/ indeterminate https://rafuju.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=829120

A Kojiri out of the ordinary! https://www.jauce.com/auction/h1233155397

"Nawame" is the term for a rope edge, lots of tsuba have "Nawame-fukurin" which is a separate metal "rim cover" - yours looks integral to the whole design so it wouldn't be a "fukurin"

Moon Bird Tsuba signed by Kofu Ju Akao Yoshitsugu - a passed eBay sale.

Your tsuba - compare to this Daisho from the Detroit Institute of Art, some of the figures are almost identical almost like they are menuki applied to the plate. They don't show the bamboo scroll/curtain but I don't have access to the other side of each guard.

I am not entirely sure what a "Horse-Faced" tsuba is? Maybe AI has some catching up to do? Title: “Tokijima on a Horse-Faced Tsuba in the Month of April” (馬面序政の月に時鳥) Translation of the main text: In April, the cuckoo bird is represented on this horse-faced tsuba (sword guard), appearing as though a cuckoo has been boldly incorporated into the design. The maker was Masatsune, a master craftsman of the Kyōwa era in Edo. Masatsune was originally a horse-gear artisan, but later began making sword fittings and produced many excellent works suited to the tastes of the time. He was especially skilled at carving horses. As shown in this piece, the cuckoo appears vividly alive, as though it might suddenly fly away from the design. This piece is made of iron. Its size is approximately 2 sun 7 bu (about 8 cm / 3.1 inches) in diameter, and the thickness is 1 bu 6 rin.

The the Genno hammer would have been my pick too! You have one very similar to the cover of "The Japanese Sword and its Fittings" from 1966 - https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/japaneseswordits00coop Another very like this: from this thread: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/50407-tsuba-schooltheme-identification/ and an entry from here:

Apparently I didn't overspend: https://nihonto.com/unusual-tsuba-by-nobuie-信家鐔　110222/ Of course my new acquisition doesn't have papers and nothing really by way of provenance - but I think I got a bargain! Thank you all for your thoughts and thank you Steve for pointing me in the direction of Echizen Nobuie.

True! There are plenty of hand forged guards that are broken but this particular pattern are ALL cast except the two slightly different designs on the top left. I have one of them myself, mine so far the only one signed [gimei] - a total so far of 20 of the one pattern and they are not utsushi.