Sword Guard (Tsuba)

Cleveland Museum of Art

The sword guard, or Tsuba, is a dark brown to black color with visible signs of wear and aging. The object has a distinctive shape with a central body that tapers towards the top and four curved protrusions, one on each side, forming a cross-like shape. The central body features two cut-out sections: a long, narrow, triangular shape on the left and a smaller oval shape on the right. The surface of the sword guard exhibits a textured appearance with darker and lighter brown patches, indicating age and use. The background of the image transitions from dark at the top to light gray at the bottom. The artist of this piece is not visually identifiable in the image.