The style of the plate of this tsuba was inspired by the tachikanagushi tsuba made in the Muromachi period. That form was later copied by Goto Ichijo (1791-1876) in several variations. This plate could have been made by the Ichijo school and the decoration added by the Hirata masters. Hirata Haruyuki (1839-1878), to whom the tsuba is attributed, was adopted by Hirata Narimasa (died 1858). He became the tenth mainline Hirata school master and he worked for the Tokugawa bakufu in the hereditary position held by the family.