Artwork preview

Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Dark brown circular sword guard with a central elongated teardrop-shaped hole and a smaller, rounded heart-shaped hole at the bottom. The guard features gold-colored designs. A gold design resembling a bird or mythical creature with outstretched wings flying towards the right is seen at the bottom right. On the top left and right are gold cloud-like designs. The background of the object has a weathered appearance with visible scratches and marks. The background behind the sword guard is plain white. Sword Guard (Tsuba) by Unknown.

Artwork Details

Date
ca. 1615–1868
Medium
Iron, gold, copper
Culture
Japanese
Dimensions
600 × 600 px
Public Domain
Yes
Museum Record
View original
Palette