Sword guard, Michitoshi, 1800-1850

The main function of the tsuba is to prevent the warrior's hand from sliding up on to the blade of the sword during combat. It also serves to balance the weight of the blade and, to some extent, protect the hand from an opponent's blade.

This tsuba is made of brass in the form of a bell and is inlaid with gold, silver and shakudo with raised decoration of a snake with gold and shakudo eyes and a copper tongue.PeopleThe tsuba is signed 'made by Michitoshi' and is of a type worn on swords carried by rich merchants or by samurai when away from the shogun's court. It formed part of a group of 92 tsuba sold to the V&A in 1888 by H. Virtue Tebbs. This purchase more than doubled the Museum's collection of such objects.TimeFollowing the dissolution of the samurai in 1876 and the prohibition of the wearing of swords, many former samurai sold their swords and sword fittings.

Many of these objects reached Europe, where they were eagerly collected. In typical Victorian fashion, British collectors became obsessed with collecting and cataloguing this new art form.