Sword Guard (Tsuba) Depicting Peony and Butterflies (菊に蝶図鐔)

Japanese

Not on view

The obverse of this tsuba shows in the top right corner a large peony in silver and an unopened chrysanthemum bud in gold. The silver petals of the open flower feature gold accents. Towards the bottom right we see smaller flower with gold, copper, and shakudō blossoms. Apart from some of the leaves of the chrysanthemum stretching over the washer seat (seppa-dai), the entire left part of the plate is left undecorated. On the sparsely decorated reverse we just see a colorful swallowtail and a smaller butterfly. The rim is highlighted in gold.

Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) Depicting Peony and Butterflies (菊に蝶図鐔), Copper, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), silver, gold, bronze, Japanese

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Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) Depicting Peony and Butterflies (菊に蝶図鐔), Copper, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), silver, gold, bronze, Japanese
Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) Depicting Peony and Butterflies (菊に蝶図鐔), Copper, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), silver, gold, bronze, Japanese

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