Artwork preview

Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With Phoenix Motif (鳳凰図鐔)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dark brown oval sword guard with rounded top and flat bottom. Two oval-shaped holes, one on either side of a central elongated triangular hole. Decorated with a gold and black bird with outstretched wings in top left, flying over wavy lines that extend to the right side. The wavy lines are accented with gold details. Small gold and black swirling patterns at the bottom and right side. The background of the sword guard features a subtle pattern of raised designs. The sword guard has a weathered appearance with visible signs of aging.

Artwork details

Date:
19th century
Medium:
Iron, gold, copper, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), copper-silver alloy (shibuichi)
Culture:
Japanese
Dimensions:
600 × 600 px
Museum record:
View original
Palette