Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A round, dark brown metal guard with a central vertical cutout, resembling an upside-down teardrop shape; the top of the cutout is adorned with two small gold pieces resembling a bow; three cutout shapes on either side: one rounded on the left, one resembling a kidney; one resembling a flower or leaf on the right; a design at the bottom right resembling a teardrop with a bow-like design on top and a curved line extending upwards to the right; one curved line with a ball on the end on the lower left. Tsuba by unknown artist.