Sword Guard (Tsuba)

Round, gold-colored metal object with a large central hole and a smaller hole to the right. The central hole is shaped like a teardrop with the pointed end facing down. The object has a darker gold-colored section on the left with a raised image of a woman sitting at a low table. The woman wears a long-sleeved robe and has long hair. There are several lines of black Japanese characters on the right side of the central hole. A small square with gold Japanese characters is located at the bottom right. The object has a weathered appearance with visible scratches and marks on its surface. The background of the image is light gray. The object is a sword guard, or tsuba, created by an artist.