Description
Storm clouds have gathered and roaring waves whip against the mouth of a cave. A tiger crouches within and gazes fixedly ahead. The rocks, clouds and waves are carved out in relief-like fashion and the tiger is depicted in three-dimensional relief, with the cave cut into the sword guard itself. The depiction of three-dimensional motifs on a thick iron plate gives this work an extremely weighty presence.
Nara Toshinaga was active from the end of the 17th century to the start of the 18th century in Edo, as Tokyo was formerly known. There are only a few Toshinaga sword guards in existence. They all feature three-dimensional designs carved skillfully into dark-toned thick iron plates. As this object shows, sword makers expressed themselves to the full and employed the finest metalwork techniques when producing sword mountings during peaceful times.
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
July 20, 2026