Type: Iron sukashi tsuba Period: Late Edo period (19th century) Nakago-ana Dimensions: 6.2Wx27.2Lx4.1D Mass: 97.4 g
This iron tsuba is formed in a maru-gata shape with bold openwork carving that creates a dynamic, flowing composition suggestive of stylized tomoe or swirling cloud forms.
The swirling motif strongly resembles the tomoe form, a design long associated with motion, energy, and cyclical forces in Japanese visual culture. Variations of this pattern appear frequently in martial symbolism, shrine decoration, and armor fittings, where the motif can represent protection, momentum, or the turning of natural forces such as wind and water.
