Artwork preview

Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The tsuba by unknown artist depicts a circular shape with a predominantly reddish-brown and black marbled pattern. The circle has two central openings separated by a narrow section in the middle. The left and right sides are each cut out with a wavy-edged curved shape. The background of the image is light gray.

Artwork details

Date:
first third 19th century
Medium:
Metal laminate (mokume-gane), iron, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), copper
Culture:
Japanese
Dimensions:
600 × 621 px
Museum record:
View original
Palette