Sword Guard (Tsuba)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image shows a rusty metal object. The object is teardrop shaped with a large oval hole in the center. The object has a rough texture and is covered in rust, with shades of brown, orange, and black visible. The background of the image is a plain gray color. The object appears to be a sword guard, also known as a tsuba, which is a type of Japanese armor used to protect the hand while wielding a sword. The artist of this piece is not visually identifiable from the image.