Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dark gray circular metal object with a central oval-shaped hole. The central hole has rounded triangular notches at top and bottom. The circle is filled with symmetrical curved cut-out designs. The curved designs are interconnected. The design elements are: - A curved shape on either side - Small teardrop shapes connected to the curved shapes - Small circular shapes The metal object has a dark gray color with some lighter gray and brown areas. The background is white. This is a Sword Guard (Tsuba) by an unknown artist.