Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image shows a circular metal guard with a dark brown color and visible signs of aging. The guard, titled "Sword Guard (Tsuba)" and attributed to an artist, features a central cutout with a rounded rectangular shape tapering to a point at the bottom and a rounded oval shape to its right. A small circular indentation sits at the top of the rectangular cutout. The guard has a raised edge around its circumference. On the left side, there is a relief design depicting a scene, likely a landscape. Small gold inlays are scattered throughout the design, adding decorative elements to the piece. The background of the image is a plain gray color.