Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Japan, Room 45, The Toshiba Gallery

Tsuba

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
Iron with gold decoration
Brief description
Met, Japan, SF, nunome
Physical description
Iron sword guard, tsuba. Decorated with nunome, the surface cut with a cross hatch pattern and gold pressed in. This is interrupted, on the front by five, and the back by three, rings enclosing various plants such as chrysanthemums, cherry, willow, reed, tea-plant and rice.
Dimensions
  • Length: 7.4cm
  • Height: 7cm
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)
Subjects depicted
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.882-1931

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
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