Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image is a circular metal object with a dark brown color and a rough texture, resembling rust. The object, Sword Guard (Tsuba) by an unidentified artist, has an irregularly shaped edge with some parts chipped or broken off. There are two holes in the center of the object: one oval-shaped on the left and one teardrop-shaped on the right. The teardrop-shaped hole has a small piece of tan-colored material stuck to its bottom. On the right side of the object, there is an engraved design that appears to be a tree or branch. The background of the image is plain white.