{"object":[{"sourceId":{"label":"Source ID","value":"33536"},"creditline":{"label":"Credit Line","value":"Memorial gift from the Estate of Charles W. Hay, Class of 1925"},"labelText":{"label":"More Information","value":"BRIEF DESCRIPTIONThis is a sword guard from a samurai sword.WHERE WAS IT MADE?This item was made in Japan during the Edo period (1615-1868).HOW WAS IT MADE?This tsuba was handcrafted from iron. The designs were created by inlaying pieces of gold, silver, and shakudo (a copper-based alloy containing small amounts of gold and silver that can be polished to a deep shiny blue or blue-black.)HOW WAS IT USED?The tsuba, or sword guard, lies between the hilt and the blade of a samurai sword. The tsbua served to prevent the hand from sliding down the hilt and onto the blade during combat. It consists of an obverse (front) and reverse side. The obverse side is the one that would face the opponent, while the reverse side would come in contact with the hand of the user. For this reason, traditionally tsuba were kept smooth on the reverse side.WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS?During the peaceful Edo period, sword fittings were seldom created for swords that were to be used in battle. Instead, these fittings, such as the tsuba, became a medium for artistic work, appreciated for their exquisite workmanship, variety of designs, and refined beauty. Whereas until around the 1650s, only a small number of motifs were typically used to decorate the sword fittings, in the following years of the Edo period the artists who made these fittings took inspiration from images in books, characters in folktales, and other popular cultural and natural motifs. Swords and their fittings served as status items for samurai. A sword owner would select motifs that expressed his tastes, values and interests.This particular tsuba features a domestic scene.Notice the shape of the central hole of the tsuba; it permitted the blade of the sword to pass through. Frequently one or two secondary holes are seen on tsuba; these were made to accommodate other small sword fittings, the kozuka (a small utility knife) and the kogai (a small hairdressing tool shaped like a skewer.)"},"invno":{"label":"Object number","value":"73.005.016"},"description":{"label":"Description","value":"Circular tsuba depicting the story of Kioshi  with scene of a woman by a house, seated at the edge of a small pond with two large goldfish at the surface. Linear details (costumes, building, plants and seal) in gold kebori zogan (hairline inlay).  Rocks, shoreline and tree trunk in sumi-zogan (shakudo inlay).  Clouds, wall and faces in silver nonome (foil inlay).  Fish, plants, basket and pine in gold nunome.  Pond in textured gold nunome.  Iron background smooth.  Reverse shows a scene of a stream, fence and bamboo plants."},"medium":{"label":"Medium","value":"Iron with gold, silver, and shakudo inlay"},"onview":{"label":"On View","value":"0"},"media":{"label":"Media","value":["73.005.016_d0535ab_012","73.005.016_d0535ab_013"]},"title":{"label":"Title","value":"Tsuba with design of Kyoshi, a Paragon of Filial Piety"},"classification":{"label":"Classifications","value":"Armor"},"people":{"label":"Artist / Maker / Culture","value":"Kiyonaga, Hirata School of Awa"},"primaryMedia":{"value":"https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/71709/full"},"displayDate":{"label":"Date","value":"Edo period, 18th century"},"id":{"label":"Id","value":"187136"},"dimensions":{"label":"Dimensions","value":"2 7/16 x 2 5/16 inches (6.2 x 5.9 cm)"}}]}