Artwork preview

Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Sword Guard (Tsuba) is circular and made of copper. The object has a black rim around its edge. It has an elongated triangular cutout in the center, with two oval cutouts on either side. The top half features a design resembling tree branches with small gold dots. The bottom half depicts a scene with a person wearing a hat and a robe, sitting on a branch, accompanied by trees with sparse gold leaves on the left. The person and trees are rendered in black and gold. The background of the image is white.

Artwork Details

Date
late 18th century
Medium
Copper, gold, copper-gold alloy (shakudō)
Culture
Japanese
Dimensions
600 × 600 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original
Palette