samurai armor

Suji-bachi kabuto A russet iron samurai helmetDATEMid Edo period, 18th centuryMEDIUMIronSIGNJōshū jū Saotome Ieharu A rare 62-plate kabuto. The plates are joined with hammered rivets, invisible from the outside. In the interior, the “Saotome-byo" is visible, as a typical feature of the Saotome armor makers.Each plate is connected with seven rivets and shows an embossed shape that reveals a very strong construction of the whole kabuto that can be very effective against bullets: each plate is in fact strongly curved but then flatten under the next one; as a result, the bowl...

Tessen

TessenFighting fan Mid Edo Period (1615 - 1867), Iron, paper with gold leaf, black pigment, bamboo.Menhari-gata (opening fan), sensu-gata (enlongated shape)Lenght: 36 cm. - Width open: 60 cm.Bearing a kanamono in shakudo Iron fan with an elegant shape, with an unusually high number of bamboo ribs.Customarily carried in the hands or tucked in the obi (belt), the folding fan played a significant role in Japanese etiquette, especially on formal occasions, and was rarely ever out of a samurai's possession. Perhaps because it was considered such an ordinary item, it was...

Saihai

SaihaiSamurai comman der batonMid Edo Period, 18º centuryWood with silvered-copper mounts; paper finalLenght: 37 cm A rare saihai in red lacquer with golden foliage decoration and kamon (family crest) of the Tokugawa clan.Born as a tool to control the troops, the saihai changed his function during the Edo period and became an accessory to wear with the armor as a symbol of power.The saihai's final can be in different materials; sometimes is applied directly to the stick, some others hung with a small rope. In this case, it is decorated with hair, attached directly to the stick....