Sword Guard (Tsuba) with Dragon

Cleveland Museum of Art

The item is a circular metal object with a dark brown color and a textured surface. The object has a large oval-shaped hole in the center. There are two dragon designs on the object, one on the left and one on the right, the dragons are surrounded by and in the circular border. The dragons are depicted in a curved position, their bodies extend from one side of the circle to the other. The dragons have gold-colored accents on their scales and claws. The background of the image is dark gray, the object appears to be made of metal, possibly iron or steel. The dragons are intricately designed and appear to be emerging from the circular border.