An antique Japanese bronze tsuba or samurai sword guard. The tsuba is decorated with relief gilded images of a lion and a tiger. Signed in Calligraphy with engraving. Presented in a wooden box with a fabric lining. Japanese sword mountings are the various housings and associated fittings (tosogu) that hold the blade of a Japanese sword when it is being worn or stored. Koshirae refers to the ornate mountings of a Japanese sword (e.g. katana) used when the sword blade is being worn by its owner, whereas the shirasaya is a plain undecorated wooden mounting composed of a saya and tsuka that the sword blade is stored in when not being used. Antique Japanese Samurai Weapons Guards and Collectibles.