Tsuba
19th century (made)
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 decorated with gold |
Brief description | Met, Japan, SF, Kagonami |
Physical description | Iron, oval sword guard, tsuba, with pearled gilt edge. Pierced with a symmetrical design of two dragons and pearl amid scrolled stems heightened with thick gold overlay. |
Dimensions |
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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.194-1916 |
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Record created | June 25, 2009 |
Record URL |
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