Tsuba
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 gilt decoration |
| Brief description | Met, Japan, SF, Namban |
| Physical description | Iron sword guard, tsuba. Decorated above and below with a demon mask and the cypher of the Dutch East India Company. At the sides, two partly gilt c-shaped scrolls enclosing Namban dragon scrolls in openwork. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| 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.1147-1926 |
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| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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