A kinko kodzuka, the small utility-knife handle that sits in the scabbard of a Japanese sword, with a textured copper ground and leaves worked in shibuichi. Gold is used for highlights, and the piece is signed with a kao, the maker's personal cipher. It is sold used.

This is a soft-metal piece for a collector of Japanese sword fittings. The contrast of textured copper, shibuichi leaves and gold accents is the whole point, and a signed example with a kao gives the owner something to research. In Montana it suits a tosogu display, a study group of kodzuka, or a remount where a signed antique handle is wanted in the saya pocket. Handle it by the edges, keep it dry, and do not polish it; the surface on old soft metal is part of what you are buying.

Key features

• Kinko kodzuka, textured copper ground
• Shibuichi leaves, gold highlights
• Signed with a kao
• Used

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