Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image depicts a circular, dark brown metal object with a weathered appearance. The object features two distinct cutouts: a long, narrow, teardrop-shaped cutout oriented vertically on the left and a rounded, half-oval cutout on the right. A small, thin band of rust-colored metal spans the bottom of the teardrop-shaped cutout. The object's surface exhibits scratches and darker spots. Three small, thin lines of gold-colored metal are visible on the top left. The background is plain white. This object is a Sword Guard (Tsuba) by an unknown artist.