Hand guard 1750 - 1850

This small, intricately detailed "Hand Guard" (Tsuba) is a work of art crafted by the Japanese artist Iwamoto Konkan sometime between 1750 and 1850. The Tsuba, measuring only 8.4 cm in height and 7.8 cm in width, features a design of three stylized crickets. The crickets are depicted in silver and gold against a background of a repeating pattern of herringbone and a textured metal that gives a sense of depth. This Tsuba, a piece of Japanese sword mount, represents the artistic skill of its maker and the cultural significance of the sword in Japanese society.