Sword Guard (Tsuba) Depicting Herons (鷺図鐔)
The obverse (omote) of this tsuba shows on the top left in high relief (takabori) a flying heron in silver and on the bottom right a heron in silver standing in water between reed and water grasses in gold and shakudō. The reverse (ura) is more sparsely decorated and only shows on the bottom left one heron in silver standing in water and next to water grasses in gold, silver and shakudō. The face of the rim is decorated in a golden Greek key pattern.
Artwork Details
- Title: Sword Guard (Tsuba) Depicting Herons (鷺図鐔)
- Date: ca. 1615–1868
- Culture: Japanese
- Medium: Copper-silver alloy (shibuichi), silver, gold, copper-gold alloy (shakudō)
- Dimensions: 2 5/8 x 2 3/8 in. (6.7 x 6.0 cm)
- Classification: Sword Furniture-Tsuba
- Credit Line: Bequest of Stephen Whitney Phoenix, 1881
- Object Number: 81.1.412
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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Omori Hidenaga
18th century
Hirata School
ca. 1615–1868
Japanese
late 14th century
Ishiguro Masayoshi
19th century
Japanese
5th century
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