A tsuba (sword guard) is a flat metal disc that forms the guard on a sword and serves to balance the sword, as well as protect the hand from sliding up the blade of the sword during use. The blade fits through the central hole of the tsuba and the smaller holes are used to fix the kogai (a skewer-like implement) and the kozuka (a small knife). Tsuba originated in Japan in around the late 14th century during the Nambokucho period (1333-1391), a time when civil war raged throughout the country. Accordingly, there was great advancement in the production of swords and sword mounting, and Japanese swords became recognised as some of the most lethal hand weapons of pre-industrial East Asia.

Along with their practical purpose, sword guards served a symbolic function and were often decorated with a design that had particular meaning to the owner, reflecting their strength, personality and family background. As such the sword guard became an important status symbol to the samurai. The late 1400s through to the mid 1500s were marred by a period of warfare and many warriors, regularly facing death, found spiritual strength in Zen Buddhism. Religious script featured commonly in tsuba inscriptions, offering protection and spiritual guidance to the warrior.

As Japan entered the more peaceful Edo Period (1603-1868), tsuba became increasingly elaborate and decorative in design and function, and their manufacture became highly specialised and technically advanced. Different schools of makers developed their own styles, often influenced by the culture and environment of the region, and the role of the tsuba extended to become an elaborate piece of art. Subjects for decoration included Japanese mythology, history and nature. Since the 16th century, it was customary for the guard to feature the signature of the maker.

Valued for their excellence in design and execution, tsuba today exist as refined pieces of art, and although now only used for state occasions and consecrations, the Japanese sword and its fittings remain a symbol of authority and reminder of Japan's powerful, and at times tumultuous, samurai past.


REF:
Bilney, Elizabeth (ed), 'Decorative Arts and Design from the Powerhouse Museum', Powerhouse Publishing, 1991
Irvine, Gregory, 'The Japanese Sword: The Soul of the Samurai', V & A Publications, London, 2000
Richards, Dick, 'Japan: Three Worlds', Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 1999
Robinson, B W, 'The Arts of the Japanese Sword', Faber and Faber, London, 1961
Sasano, Masayuki, 'Early Japanese Sword Guards', Japan Publications Inc, San Francisco, 1972

This tsuba was made in Japan by an unknown maker.

The making of tsuba began in around the late 14th century, originally serving a practical purpose being to balance the sword, as well as protect the hand from sliding up the blade of the sword during battle. However tsuba gradually developed a more decorative and symbolic function, particularly during the relatively peaceful Tokugawa, or Edo period, where samurai increasingly became courtiers, bureaucrats, and administrators rather than warriors and swords took on a more symbolic emblem of power.

During the Muromachi period (1392-1572) tsuba became a separate industry to sword manufacturing. A number of well-defined schools and styles of tsuba making developed, and craftsmen began inscribing their names on their work. Originally made of iron, later tsuba incorporated bronze and other alloys, with elaborate designs overlaid with gold, silver, copper or shakudo. Shakudo is a low content gold alloy, usually 2-7% gold and the rest copper. Sometimes small amounts of other metals are added. The effect is an attractive blue black patina. Although some tsuba were made specifically for warfare, often with minimal decoration, others were made for display at court and featured elaborate decoration or incorporated motifs and inscriptions that reflected the strength, personality and ambitions of the wearer.

In March 1876, during the Meiji period (1868-1912), the Hatôrei edict was passed, officially abolishing the samurai as a class and thus ending their privilege of carrying swords. A large number of specialist craftsmen were left without a regular source of income and began producing finely crafted objects such as jewellery and ornamental pieces. Some metal workers continue the traditional craft of tsuba production, and tsuba are today considered highly-skilled works of art.


REF:
Bilney, Elizabeth (ed), 'Decorative Arts and Design from the Powerhouse Museum', Powerhouse Publishing, 1991
Richards, Dick, 'Japan: Three Worlds', Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 1999
Sasano, Masayuki, 'Early Japanese Sword Guards', Japan Publications Inc, San Francisco, 1972
Irvine, Gregory, 'The Japanese Sword: The Soul of the Samurai', V & A Publications, London, 2000
Robinson, B W, 'The Arts of the Japanese Sword', Faber and Faber, London, 1961
Sato, Kanzan, 'The Japanese Sword', Kodansha International Ltd, San Francisco, 1983

Tsuba, wave pattern, brass / gold / silver, maker unknown, Japan, date unknown

A circular dark green coloured brass tsuba with a central triangular hole and diamond shaped hole flanked to the left and another large bean shaped hole flanked to the right. Both faces of the tsuba is decorated with engraved patterns of waves running horizontally across the disc with specks of gold and silver throughout.

No marks

H3011-2

75 mm