Spartancrest

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.

Well it only arrived this afternoon - Half an hour? Lucky for me the guy selling it couldn't take the time or put in the minimal effort, it might have cost me considerably more if other bidders had seen it tidied up.

I won this Kawari-gata "Nobuie" guard for ¥ 4,100. To be fair it was pretty dirty and rusty - but a little elbow grease it has come up a treat. Anyone got any idea of which "Nobuie" might have made it?

I don't honestly think it was worth the $250 [was that dollars or euro?] But for a genuine piece you would need to pay far more [unless you can stumble on an auction piece where the seller doesn't know what he is selling] https://nihonto.art/products/tsuba-akasaka-den-tadashige one here selling for $433 USD or €380.00 - still no guarantee till it is examined in hand. A papered example here https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en/product/shousai/TSU-2825 but would you like to pay 200,000 yen or $1232.59 USD ? This one attributed as Kyo-sukashi.

Ashamed to admit it but this thing from the 1940s was my first tsuba - the menuki though are real Edo period. Keep your eye out for these cast "Dragon in the Clouds" there are literally thousands of them! I "moved" this thing on years ago as a gift to my nephew! [Bad uncle!]

This image is the real clincher for showing it is cast, these are not layered seams and there are even tiny nodules in the "cut out" areas. Still from the surface it looks the part and may have been re-worked to get the fine line [kebori] details on the myoga and flowers. Welcome to the forum R (?) PS. My first tsuba were much less attractive!

That design has many examples.

Colin you just beat me to it!

Sorry to agree with Mauro, there are areas that true Mino Gotō would not have made this way. Some gold overflows and the ubiquitous tagane-ato found on many Nagoya-mono

A very popular design and apparently done by both Owari and Akasaka schools- and copied. http://www.nihonto.us/OWARI SUKASHI LS050.htm https://nihonto.art/products/tsuba-akasaka-den-tadashige https://www.bonhams.com/auction/18823/lot/5/an-unusually-large-akasaka-tsuba-late-17th-century/ Please compare the tagane-ato [punch marks] on your tsuba compared to this almost identical piece suspected of being cast. Certainly damaged.

Well I congratulate your taste in the Iron tsuba you have chosen ! If that is the DARK WORLD, then I vote for turning out the lights!

Colin, I have seen similar designs in the past that look like the thicker rim has been removed - looking like this altered image of your guard. I will need to search to find a better example.

A cheap and the usual condition [nasty] on eBay now https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/307009738153 The seller usually deals in very ordinary pieces but reasonable starting prices - it is not his fault there are people who want to pay too much!