Suji Bachi kabuto

By Fusamune, dated Tenbun 3 (1534)

Signature: Fusamune (+kao) / Tenbun 3 房宗 (+kao)　天文三六月吉日

The sixty two plate suji bachi gold lacquered as is the mabisashi, the top plate of the shikoro riveted in place with star shaped rivets, iron fukigaeshi each with a gilt copper decorative mitsukiku, a three stage tehen kanamono and retaining the second lame of the shikoro.

Almost all of the several helmets extant are dated and show a kaô, i.e. a habit which is similar to Nobuie.

Origami:

Koushu Tokubetsu Kichou Shiryo certificate from the NKBKHK

Literature: 

Sasama Y., Nihon no Mei kabutō (Japanese Fine Helmets) vol. 3, Yuzankaku, Tokyo: 1972, p.126

Sasama Y., Nihon kacchu taikan (Japanese Armour), Gogatsu shobo, Tokyo: 1987, p.1222

Sasama Y., Kacchu kantei hikkei (A Handbook of the Connoisseurship of Armour), Yuzankaku, Tokyo: 1992

Sasama Y., Shin Kacchushi Meikan, Yuzankaku, Sato bun Shuppan: 2000, pag. 188

Fusamune is considered to be a student of Nobuie, given the many similarities in his technique: the shape of the bowl, the flat plates, the suji at the edge of the tehen, the construction from front to back, the position of the signature, and the consistently occurring date. Moreover, only nine helmets with his signature are known, concentrated in a twelve-year time period beginning toward the end of Nobuie's period of activity, and we can therefore assume that Fusamune worked for several years signing with his master's name, according to daimei practice, before becoming independent in 1529. However, such independence may have been forced by the bad relations between the two, since Fusamune did not sign "Myōchin" and did not share any kanji with Nobuie, which would be normal for a student-master relationship.

The quality of Fusamune's work is often superior to Nobuie's, so much so that when Takeda Shingen offered a helmet to the Samukawa Jinja as a tribute for the victory at Odawara in 1569, he chose a helmet by Fusamune and not one by Nobuie, as was the norm.