Artwork preview

Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With the Motif of Plovers and Waves (波千鳥図鐔)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dark brown metal object with rounded edges and irregular shape. The object features an oval-shaped hole on the left side and a long, narrow, triangular hole in the center. Three bird cutouts are on the right side: a dark green bird at the top, a brown bird in the middle, and a black bird at the bottom. The birds have yellow eyes and feet. There are Japanese characters etched vertically on either side of the triangular hole. Red numbers "91.1.815" are at the bottom.

Artwork details

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