Sword Guard (Tsuba)
Unknown Artist
18th century
Medium
Iron, brass, copper
Dimensions
H. 3 in. (7.6 cm); W. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm); thickness 3/16 in. (0.5 cm); Wt. 3.6 oz. (102.1 g)
Classification
Sword Furniture-Tsuba
Culture
Japanese
Department
Arms and Armor
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Funds from various donors, 1946
Accession Number
46.122.134
Art Historical Context
This exquisite sword guard, or *tsuba*, hails from 18th-century Japan, a product of the Edo period when samurai culture flourished amid relative peace. Crafted from with inlays of brass and copper it measures just 3 inches high and weighs a mere 3.6 ounces, perfectly balancing functionality and artistry. As a key component of a katana's hilt, the *tsuba* protected theder's hand while serving as a canvas for intricate designs—though the motif here remains a mystery due to the unknown artist, its mixed metals suggest skilled techniques like *zōgan* inlay, where softer alloys were hammered into t...