Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image shows a circular, dark brown metal object with a gold edge. The object has three cut-out sections: one oval on the left, one triangular in the center, and one oval on the right. A dragon design is cut out from the top right to the bottom center of the object. The dragon's head is at the top, facing left, with its body curving down and around to the right. The dragon's body has spikes along its length. The background of the image is light gray. The object appears to be a sword guard, also known as a tsuba.