Artwork preview

Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dark brown, round metal object with three cut-out sections. Left cut-out section resembles a leaf or a cloud with curved edges. Middle cut-out section features a narrow, elongated shape with a wide top and bottom tapering to a narrower middle section. Right cut-out section resembles a rounded rectangle with curved edges. A figure of a man with a weapon is on the right side. The figure and parts of the metal object have gold-colored accents. Small gold specks are scattered on the top left. The metal object has a textured surface. The background is off-white. Title: Sword Guard (Tsuba), likely created by an unknown artist.

Artwork Details

Date
16th century
Medium
Iron, gold, silver, lacquer, copper
Culture
Japanese
Dimensions
600 × 600 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original
Palette