Knife Handle (Kozuka)
Unknown Artist
second half 18th century
Medium
Copper-gold alloy (shakudō), copper-silver alloy (shibuichi), copper, gold, silver
Dimensions
L. 3 13/16 in. (9.7 cm); W. 9/16 in. (1.4 cm); thickness 1/4 in. (0.6 cm); Wt. 1.2 oz. (34 g)
Classification
Sword Furniture-Kozuka
Culture
Japanese
Department
Arms and Armor
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Howard Mansfield Collection, Gift of Howard Mansfield, 1936
Accession Number
36.120.347
Tags
About this artwork
This exquisite kozuka, or knife handle, exemplifies the refined metalworking techniques of eighteenth-century Japanese sword furniture. Crafted from shakudō—a copper-gold alloy artificially patinated to achieve a distinctive blue-black finish—and enhanced with shibuichi (copper-silver alloy), copper, gold, and silver, this piece represents the sophisticated aesthetic of the Edo period. The kozuka served as the handle for a by-knife stored in a slot on the reverse of a katana scabbard, often pair...