KUNITOMO TEIEI (ACTIVE EARLY 18TH CENTURY)
An Iron and Copper-alloy Hazama Tsuba
Edo period (1615-1868), early 18th century
The oval plate inlaid in sahari on one side with a 16-petaled chrysanthemum around the nakago-ana and ryōhitsu openings, surrounded by karakusa arabesques, and on the other side with scattered matsuba and prunus blossoms, signed Seishū Kameyama no jū Kunitomo Teiei saku (Made by Kunitomo Teiei of Kameyama in Ise Province); with a wood storage box titled Kunitomo Teiei saku karakusa kikka mon tsuba (Tsuba with arabesque and chrysanthemum-blossom design by Kunimoto Teiei) and inscribed on the reverse of the lid with an attestation by Satō Kanzan dated 1970 (2)
3 1/8 x 3in (8.1 x 7.6cm)
Footnotes

Thought to be connected to the earlier Hazama group of tsuba makers who were originally gun manufacturers before they moved to Kameyama in Ise Province, Kunitomo Teiei is celebrated for iron tsuba inlaid with sahari, an extremely hard alloy of four parts copper to one part tin, occasionally with some additional lead or silver, see Ōsumi Yukie, The Soul of Gold: Tales from a Japanese Metal Artist’s Studio, New York: SelectBooks, 2020, p. 22.