Tsuba with abstracted lightning

Tsuba with abstracted lightning is held by Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (Germany). Description supplied by the holding institution: The circular sword guard, a so-called »tsuba«, belongs to the »maru gata« type.

It is signed with the name »Echizen Jû, Kinai Saku« and is a work of the so-called »Echizen-Kinai« school. On one side of the opening for the tang (»nakago ana«), abstracted lightning bolts (»inazuma«) can be recognized in a crescent-shaped openwork. Opposite them are two intertwined rings incorporated in a similar shape. »Tsuba« are Japanese sword guards made of iron, copper, or copper alloys that sit between the hilt and the blade of a sword.

In the center of the guard is an opening for the tang of the sword. Two further openings are intended for a utility knife (»kozuka«) and a sword hairpin (»kôgai«). Tsuba protected the hand from an opponent's sword and from the danger of slipping onto one's own blade when thrusting. In Japan, tsuba were status symbols. They embodied the aesthetic principles and the… The collection record gives measurements height: 7.0 cm, width: 7.0 cm, depth: 0.5 cm.

Published through Europeana; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.