@The round iron body of this sword guard is decorated with gold leaf inlays of torn fans and cherry blossoms. The inlaid forms are particularly finely detailed in this superb design of boldly formed torn fans and cherry blossoms set against the lovely iron surface. Overall the swordguard has a sense of full-bodied thickness, and yet this form reveals the elegantly powerful workmanship of the piece. While unsigned, the swordguard is attributed to Hayashi Matashichi, a well-known swordguard maker from Higo province, and this is one of the masterpiece examples filled with a sense of the stirring magnificence of the Momoyama period.
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