Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image titled "Sword Guard (Tsuba)" by the artist depicts a circular metal object made of dark brown metal with a weathered appearance. The object features three oval-shaped holes arranged vertically in the center. The top and bottom of the circle have an engraving of a landscape scene with a curved line resembling a mountain range at the top. There are also engravings of what appear to be plants and trees at the bottom. Additionally, there are several lines of Japanese characters etched into the metal, vertically along the center of the piece between the holes. Small flecks of gold are scattered throughout. The background of the image is plain white.