Interesting karuta tatami armor.

[estcrh]

This is the one Chinese seller who does carry real Japanese antiques, he now calls himself...World Armor baiguixiu...a copy of World Armor Antique DAIMYOU perhaps.

A very interesting armor, someone put a lot of work into the design.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/EDO-DOU-Japanese-sa ... 1798wt_700

[IanB]

Eric, Indeed a very interesting tatami dou. The lavish use of applied kiritetsu is unusual as is the position of the gilt ring - normally that would be on the right side not the left. The dou is also interesting in not having a gattari for a sashimono. This gent does seem to get some interesting items and is generally cheap, but I have never had the courage to bid on anything.

Ian Bottomley

[estcrh]

Ian, I saw this for sale in Japan a few days ago so either he bought it and is reselling or could not get a good price in Japan. I have purchased a couple of things from him, good communication and fast shipping, but it took me awhile to take the plunge. The dou is to me at least an example of the higher end samurai karuta that you see from time to time, certainly not ashigaru perhaps explaining the missing gattari. I wish the inside was pictured to see if the cloth lining was still intact. Here is a picture of a much lower end karuta tatami dou with the Gattari (Bracket) & Ukezutsu (Flag holder) for a sashimono and a picture of the same armor folded up showing why its is a tatami "folding" armor.