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- Meiji period, foreigners saw the beauty in tsuba and began collecting them on a large scale.
The tsuba were made in all kinds of shapes for bladed Japanese weapons, including the tachi or katana (long sword) and wakizashi (short sword) as well as sometimes for the tanto (dagger) and naginata (spear halberd).
Three tsuba sword guards with openwork
44 desjgns. Trois gardes tsuba6e sabre The four main shapes for the tsuba are maru gata, which is the most
japonais avec motifs ajoures � unsigned, common, a roundish shape, often elliptical or oval; kaku gata, a squarish
Edo period (1603-1868) � iron � Collection of
Frank Low-Beer, aggv 2005.029.011 -.016 shape with rounded corners, occasionally hexagonal or octagonal, or,
rarely, trapezoidal; mokko gata, a shape with four lobes; and shitogi, in the shape of a rice cake, usually reserved for ceremonial swords. On rare occasions, the tsuba were made in the shape of an insect, a snake, a frog or a bird. The tsuba itself usually has three holes: the centre hole is for the tang or handle of the blade to be fitted through; the simple arc or oval hole on the left is for the kozuka, which is a handle that holds a small blade called a kogatana carried in the scabbard of the main sword; and the hole on the right side, usually with three arcs, is for the kogai, a skewer-like implement. Both the kozuka and kogai project beyond the top of the scabbard; hence, the necessity for the holes in the tsuba. Sometimes the maker of the tsuba is listed on one or both sides of the central tang hole.
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