Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image features a circular object that is a Tsuba by an unknown artist. The object is dark brown with a weathered appearance. The object is round with a smooth outer edge. There are three holes in the center, one oval on the left, one long and narrow in the middle, and one irregular on the right. The surface features etched designs. At the top, there are etched wavy lines resembling hills or mountains. At the bottom right, there are etched lines and dots that appear to represent plants or flowers. The background of the image is white.