Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With Flower Basket Motif (花籠透鐔)

Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With Flower Basket Motif (花籠透鐔)

石黒政明 Ishiguro Masaaki

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is the larger guard (tsuba) of a pair of sword guards that is the product of a collaboration among three artists. Ishiguro Masaaki (石黒政明, born 1813) crafted it after a smaller guard (19.71.6) of the same design to create a matching set for the traditional pair of swords worn by a samurai . It features an extraordinary openwork design of a flower basket whose quatrefoil rim is decorated with a Greek-style key pattern inlaid in gold. The smaller guardm for the wakizashi, was made by father and son Hagiya Katsuhira (萩谷勝平, 1804–1886) and Suzuki Katsuhiro (鈴木勝容, 1827–1886) in 1860.

Arms and Armor

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With Flower Basket Motif (花籠透鐔)Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With Flower Basket Motif (花籠透鐔)Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With Flower Basket Motif (花籠透鐔)Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With Flower Basket Motif (花籠透鐔)Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) With Flower Basket Motif (花籠透鐔)

The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker. Arms and armor have been a vital part of virtually all cultures for thousands of years, pivotal not only in conquest and defense, but also in court pageantry and ceremonial events. Throughout time the best armor and weapons have represented the highest artistic and technical capabilities of the society and period in which they were made, forming a unique aspect of both art history and material culture.