Sword Guard (Tsuba) in Shingen Design (信玄鐔)

Japanese

Not on view

Legend has it that once the famous warlord Takeda Shingen (武田信玄, 1521-1573) started to wrap brass wires around the openwork bridges and rim of his tsuba as an excersise of concentration whilst waiting for the start of a battle. There are now tsuba that do feature brass or copper wired wound around an iron openwork frame and such which are merely inlaid with different metals to give that appearance. This tsuba is of the former category. Apart from the Shingen décor, there are two openings for scabbard accessories (hitsu-ana) and wire is also wound around the rim.

Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) in Shingen Design (信玄鐔), Iron, copper, Japanese

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Obverse

Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) in Shingen Design (信玄鐔), Iron, copper, Japanese
Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) in Shingen Design (信玄鐔), Iron, copper, Japanese

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.