Various Japanese tsuba, or sword hand guards, in the Victoria & Albert Museum Collectio

Various Japanese tsuba, or sword hand guards, in the Victoria & Albert Museum Collection. The first was made by Mogarashi Soten in the 18th century using copper with gold alloy. The second was made in Awa in the 1600s, and the last tsuba is dated to Kyoto, c.1700. It was made by Sasaki Shobei, who used gold-leaf to cover nearly the entire copper base. Source