Accession Number
1966/1.100

Title
Tsuba (sword guard) with mushroom design

Artist(s)
Japanese

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
16th century

Medium & Support
iron

Dimensions
3 1/8 in. x 3 1/8 in. x 1/16 in. ( 8 cm x 8 cm x 0.2 cm )

Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the Margaret Watson Parker Art Collection Fund

Label copy
Tsuba are intended to protect the user’s hand, first by shielding it against a blow from the opponent’s blade, and second by preventing it from slipping onto the razor-sharp edge of the weapon being wielded. Until the early seventeenth century, simply designed iron tsuba were dominant, as seen in the example here bearing a mushroom motif. When the Tokugawa regime required samurai warlords to travel regularly to the capital, Edo, and mandated that their wives and children reside there, considerations of urban fashion became more influential than battlefield practicalities in samurai attire and accessories. The tsuba became more an object of display than a functional item—a trend that further intensified when affluent merchants were permitted to carry swords in public and also began to demand attractive tsuba.
As is well represented by this collection, there was great artistic creativity at play in tsuba-making during the Edo period. The newly developed shakudô (a copper–gold alloy of a lustrous purple–black color) was used to create relief designs. Openwork chiseling was a versatile method for creating dramatic representations of family crests or light, airy, and elegant plant motifs.
(Label for UMMA Japanese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)

Subject matter
Tsuba (sword guard) is inserted between a sword handle and blade to protect hands from sharp blades. The center hole is where the sword is placed. The smaller hole is to insert kougai, a spatula-like stick which is said to be used for itching hair underneath hats or helmets. Mushrooms were thought to have a magical power in East Asia.
This tsuba is in the Kotosho style, which means "old swordsmith". They are usually thinly hammered and decorated with one or two pierced designs. Kotosho fate from Kamakura to early Muromachi period.

Physical Description
Circular tsuba, made of iron. It has two holes in the middle. There are two openwork motifs of mushrooms on the lower left. Rusts on some parts of the piece.

Primary Object Classification
Arms and Armor

Primary Object Type
sword guard

Additional Object Classification(s)
Metalwork

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
Fungi (kingdom)
iron (metal)
swords