Luc T

Saotome Ietada was without doubt the best Saotome smith. This kabuto, a part of an armour is accompanied with a framed note inscribed: Oboe, kono tabi Ise no Kami sama yori go-hatchu okuri seisaku itaseshi katchu irchiryo kiwame ogon goju-mai haiju itashi-soro gotoku tosho o motte akashi to itashi- soro Jokyo go tsuchinoe-inudoshi Katchushi Saotome letada. On this occasion, I would like to confirm with this document the receipt of the quote of fifty gold pieces for the armour made on order by Ise no Kami in 1688 - Armourer, Saotome letada. I still read very often that the Saotome worked during the 16 century, even after Orikasa sensei discovered Ietada, the first Saotome, started working after Sekigahara.

Dear Barret, if it is for training purpose, it can be usefull without the sode and maedate. Focus on the Momoyama armors. Flexibility and weight will be of primordial importance. The mail will nOt cause too much problems, except when you start using it against real pole arms or swords.

Bonham’s sale is another (lower) level. I don’t think we will see such moves here.

A lot came from the Koeliker collection, Italy indeed.

The armors were good to very good, but not top class. One can expect such prices for Daimyo class material. Easy money? Bitcoin millionaires? If you have a look at the prices for contemporary art (Banksy’s shredder 22M) or Billy the kid’s gun (6.4M) we can conclude it’s not only armor that increases in price.

Many maedate are modern. Simply because everyone wants one.

A lot of good stuff there

Nice haramaki. These things are never cheap.

Sad, I start to miss Japan…

and those Iwai working in Fukuoka...

don't forget that the Meiko zukan was written around 1730, Matsumya Kazan must have known the schools and their work. The Oie-bo is a evoluted remant of the early hoate. And if the Tokugawa shogunal family wanted to distinguish themselves, the oie-bo was a perfect way to express their undisputable status.

There are a few in the book ‘masked warriors’ too (Aymeric Antien and my collection)

it is a kind of Yasurime. This is the only type of men I know with this feature. very rare.

Great times Ian, great memories too.

this is one of the more scarce Iwai men. Are there file marks on the teeth? One of the characteristics of this variation is the lack of the nagashi no ana, and the file strokes on the teeth. I don't know if it is objective to link it to Yozaemon, but it is one of the finest Iwai one can find.

A nice kabuto Alain, but I like the menpo too. interesting research!

It’s this agemaki no kanamono. I saw pictures of the armor, the kanamono are the same style. And yes, this one is missing on the armor.

Quite something Piers, thanks for sharing your experience. here the armor i was referring to. I seems to have a piece of it in my collection

Kusunoki Masashige, the big example for the kamikaze pilots, and all who want to die for the emperor. i know the Minatogawa jinja owns an armor, attributed as his, but in fact made in the 16th century. I would be very happy with some good pictures of this armor.

Well, it all sounds great. I hope for the day the armour community also can gather again.

As Uwe said, likely Myochin. Really nice uchidachi!

An old hoate indeed! I like it.

wow...very impressive tengu! thanks for sharing!

And our friend Sasama said: Takeyasu (武保) Nakahachiman Takeyasu (中八幡武保), late Edo period, lived in Edo. He was an armourer of the Hachisuka family (蜂須賀) who were daimyô of the Tokushima fief (徳島藩) of Awa province. His income was 4 koku and a stipend for the support of three persons. There is an iron black-lacquered navy blue sugake-laced gomai-dô-gusoku by Takeyasu extant whose kote are signed „Ashû-shin Nakahachiman Takeyasu kore o saku“ (阿州臣中八幡武保作之), the suneate are signed „Ashû-shin Minamoto Takeyasu kore o saku“ (阿州臣 源武保作之) and the haidate „Ashû-shin Takeyasu saku“ (阿州臣保作). We also know signatures of the kind „Ashû-shin – Minamoto Takeyasu kore o tsukuru“ (阿州臣・源武保造之).

the first known koboshi by the Joshu are Narikuni 1565, Norikuni 1567, 1568,1569 (3), 1570 (2) etc... the last Joshu koboshi known at this moment is by Norikuni, 1584. Others are Ienaga (1572); Yasushige (1569); Kunihisa (1578)... There is an article about the Joshu kabuto in our Japanese Armor Society yearbook 'KATCHU nr 3', with some very surprising information. These signed and dated pieces are good reference material for the many unsigned works indeed.