When samurai warriors went into battle in 16th century Japan, their swords included a piece of hidden art. Within the tsuba, the hand guard at the bottom of the blade, metal smiths carefully crafted beautiful and complex designs, including flowers, animals, and landscapes.
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has one of the largest collections of Japanese art in the United States in its permanent collection, including hundreds of tsubas. It has just collaborated with the fine jewelry designer Monica Rich Kosann to create a collection of necklaces inspired by three tsuba designs—a crane, a turtle, and a butterfly—to introduce these ancient works of art back into the modern world. Kosann’s pieces, which cost between $925 and $3,050, are made from gold and silver, and one piece is encrusted with diamonds. They will be sold at the MFA as well as Kosann’s store.
Kosann carefully went through every single one of the MFA’s tsubas and settled on these three creatures. She was particularly drawn to their symbolism, which she learned about as she spoke with the museum’s curators. The crane symbolized good luck and the turtle symbolized a long life, both of which a samurai would hope for as they went into the battlefield.
But warriors also realized that they might never make it home alive. “The butterfly symbolized a short life, but a full, glorious one,” says Kosann. “I find that very moving, and something that many people can relate to.”
Sarah Thompson, curator of Japanese prints at the MFA, says that most of the tsubas that have survived are from the 16th century, when Japan was engaged in a lengthy civil war. Metal smiths would create these tsubas out of precious metals, often iron combined with two alloys that are unique to Japanese metalwork, shibuichi (which is copper blended with silver) and shakuto (which is copper blended with gold).
Over time, these pieces became status symbols, signaling the importance of the warrior and his family. “As far as I know, the design of the tsubas were personally selected by their owners,” says Thompson. “And because they could be put together [on the sword] in different ways, you might have several that you could change.”
Kosann was drawn to this project because she has built her business on creating jewelry based on storytelling and symbolism. When she launched her eponymous jewelry brand two decades ago, she focused on creating lockets inspired by those she found at vintage markets, since these were a way for a person to tell a story about their life and the loved ones who have shaped them.
Today, the brand continues to be known for its lockets, but Kosann has expanded to include many other pieces of jewelry designed to tell stories about the wearer’s identity. For instance, she has a collection of pendants inspired by fables and fairy tales. There’s one that features a red apple, which appears everywhere from the biblical story of the Garden of Eden to the story of Snow White.
She reimagines it as a symbol of empowerment. And there’s another one that features the tortoise and the hare, made from green tourmaline and white diamonds. “The moral and meaning in mythology never get old,” says Kosann. “So many people feel like they’re behind in the journey of life, but the tortoise and the hare reminds us that slow and steady often wins the race.”
Her collection for the MFA is an extension of this work. In some ways, the project is a departure for her, because she’s inspired by a form of art that was designed for men who would then carry it into the very masculine space of the battlefield. She believes the symbolism within these tsubas are relevant to the modern woman, who might want to embody the spirit of a fearless warrior. “I think about the butterfly,” says Kosann. “It represents transformation and beauty, and how it’s not the length of your life that matters, but whether you lived it well.”
