Tsuba
1828 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The tsuba is a protective guard fitted between the hilt and the blade of a sword. Originally they were simple iron disks, sometimes decorated by piercing or hammering in low relief. Later sword guards were more often made of copper alloys, patinated to a wide range of colours and inlaid with other coloured metals. Sword guards became miniature art forms, and different schools of makers developed their own unique styles.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Copper with shibuichi, shakudo and silver decoration |
| Brief description | Met, Japan, SF, IWAMA |
| Physical description | Copper sword guard, tsuba. Shaped as a Daruma toy with bold low-relief modelling. Decorated with a fly-whisk, a man-kite, and, on the back, a battledore and a domino-mask.. The seppadai is of copper-silver alloy shibuichi, and the rim is silver with irregular internal profile. Signed 'Katsuryuken Masayoshi, aged 65'. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'Katsuriuken Masayoshi, aged 65' (Signed) |
| Gallery label | The tsuba is a protective guard fitted between the hilt and the blade of a sword. Originally they were simple iron disks, sometimes decorated by piercing or hammering in low relief. Later sword guards were more often made of copper alloys, patinated to a wide range of colours and inlaid with other coloured metals. Sword guards became miniature art forms, and different schools of makers developed their own unique styles.(04/11/2015) |
| Summary | The tsuba is a protective guard fitted between the hilt and the blade of a sword. Originally they were simple iron disks, sometimes decorated by piercing or hammering in low relief. Later sword guards were more often made of copper alloys, patinated to a wide range of colours and inlaid with other coloured metals. Sword guards became miniature art forms, and different schools of makers developed their own unique styles. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.1182-1931 |
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| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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