Object Image

Pair of Sword-Grip Ornaments (Menuki)

Unknown Artist

Menuki are a pair of ornamental sword fittings attached to either side of a sword hilt.

Credit: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1938

18th century

Copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, copper-silver alloy (shibuichi)

1.0 in

38.55.6a, b

Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Permanent collection