Nerikawa kabuto

Lacquered leather samurai helmet 

Late Edo period 

Signed: Tsuda Kiyotake kore o sei (津田清武製之) and dated 1861 

The helmet designs popular during the Muromachi period made a strong comeback in the second half of the Edo period. There was a growing belief that Japan was entering a period of peace that would last forever, so samurai aimed for armor with high prestige rather than real efficacy. While the skills required to make expensive riveted plate kabuto were being lost, the rich designs of ancient times, when only the highest-ranking samurai could afford to wear armor, were also returning in fashion. 

This helmet is a classic example of such a development: the bowl (hachi) is made of lacquered leather, which is easier to make than an iron fabrication, but the gilded copper applications are of exceptional quality, echoing the classic decorative floral motifs of the Muromachi era. The interiors are also finished with expensive processing, indicating a high level of patronage: the bowl is lacquered in gold, and the shikoro, which is made entirely of individual plates (hon–kozane), is lacquered in byakudan-nuri, a system in which a layer of pure gold is covered with a transparent red lacquer. 

To consult the glossary of Japanese terminology, visit this page. 

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