Luc T

It turns out to be Kanno san, an expert about horse related equipment and use of armor on the battlefield. One of the main personalities of the soma noma oi.

Thomas, the early Bamen had 3 rows of koboshi on the front plate. Most of them were signed: ́Echizen no Kuni Toyohara-jû Sadao saku ́ (越前国豊原住貞生作).

in the case of Iwai, this should be exceptional, if so most probably on the inside, the back of the kusazuri, suneate, kote. In that case, it will probably be the inventory numbers, red urushi on a dark background. Interesting dou! Is it nerikawa (lacquered leather)?

Gary, is it possible to post a top view of your kabuto?

btw, in the modern literature about armor, Kansai is a generalism seen as the region west of Japan, without Kyushu and Kishu Kanto is the Tohoku region, Sagami, Joshu.. east of Japan.

My point is, and I quote Orikasa sensei: ‘The most prolific age of Kabuto was the Warring States Period Sengoku Jidai, (in the later stages of Muromachi), when clashes and conflicts were affected by the arrival on the scene and the general adoption of guns, meaning that methods of warfare had to change. For protective wear, i.e. Katchu, this was a revolutionary challenge. In such a world, Kabuto too had to change, and all kinds of unusual Kabuto appeared, including 62-Ken suji kabuto, 62-Ken koboshi kabuto, Hineno Zunari Kabuto, etc. It is thought that the increasing frequency of armed clashes must have required kabuto to be made in large quantities, but there are very few extant examples that can be trusted to carry reliable provenance. We can speculate that most original examples were degraded in subsequent warfare, or were refashioned into new replacement kabuto, etc.’ (Koki no Shiori, Teruo Orikasa, 2019, JAS edition) as such, it is necessary to have the item in the hand to examine the patina, corrosion etc. And even then it is tricky. Now, about the style. The Eastern warlords did not like fantasies. They even skipped the hachimanza on their most precious kabuto’s. Their kabuto were hightech at the moment, they did not need frivolity. This kabuto has a very basic hachimanza, which does not correspond with the fancy haraidate. The mabezashi, I have no first class material to compare, but I presume you have some? For the record, the kabuto by Yukinoshita Masaie had such mabezashi, but that’s a completely different style of kabuto.

another one, late muromachi.

thomas, here 2 late muromachi koboshi, signed joshu Norikuni. One with original mabezashi and haraidate dai, the other one nicely converted according the West-Japanese momoyama fashion.

But before we continue, I just want to say this is no contest nor a quiz, It is about sharing knowledge and a passion.

the shinsa members were Takemura san, Matsumoto san, Nishioka san, Nagata san, and the last one I can't read, but I think it was me. Nagata and Matsumoto are the specialists for this kind of kabuto. (Orikasa is always very sceptical to date these kabuto muromachi, but that is his opinion).

Thomas, look at the corrosion and patina. They are different. The haraidate dai seems atypical for the region, and a bit too flashy for the period. The mabezashi normally has cut-outs on the koshimaki. But I have seen this type before. It could be original, but it’s possibly an edo replacement. but all your arguments are valuble Thomas.

Interesting discussion. what do we have: a 62 plate koboshi number of koboshi per plate? Gary? no hibiki no ana no shiten no byo Small but perfect finished tehen no ana no nonsense but functional hachimanza. irregular shaped koboshi irregular aligned koboshi placed close to the suji. a probably replaced haraidate dai. a mabezashi that is possibly replaced too. According the style, we have a Kanto kabuto who did we have there: the Joshu. This is not a Joshu kabuto the Yashu. There are no koboshi known by them. the soshu (Sagami, Odawara) there was an Ietsugu who made koboshi +-30koboshi per plate. I have seen several of his work and it looks very much like this one. Ietsugu is recorded in the shin katchushi meikan as early edo. But there must have been several Soshu smiths with this name during the end of the momoyama-early edo period by my humble opinion. Gary, is it possible to post a picture with the names of the shinsa members? Some of them know these schools very good. But I am not sure if they were in the shinsa for this kabuto. there is a fair chance that this old boy is signed. Then we could be sure. Now we have to judge on what wee see.

And on the back, very important, the name of the judges. Transparency and responsability.

Gary, here the explanation of the Nkbkhk paper

Piers, you are looking at the iron hachimanza, not? It looks like the ones on Bamen kabuto, but here I think we see a Soshu product again.

The nkbkhk papers don’t mention a school easily without a reliable signature. Not because the don’t have an opinion, but simply because it is tricky. this kabuto could be momoyama too, but it is certainly early edo or earlier. Also here, they stay prudent. No space for a wrong guess. again a fine old warbeast Gary!

I see. Well, I hope this helps you anyway Gary.

I guess the doubt it is similar with appraising swords?

I can follow Thomas' thoughts here very well. this was also my doubt. what do we have: Sasama writes about such a smith, with no surviving works known. the quality does not correspond with the early Soshu or Odawara works. (this kabuto here is better, smells edo) what we also have, and this is quite unknown, also the Ichiguchi Myochin made this kind of kabuto during the early edo period. the genealogy of the Ichiguchi is far from complete, It may be an unrecorded smith. If it is the one mentioned in the SMZ, I think we have to wait till more kabuto pop up. this kabuto has similarities with the late Soshu smiths. If it is one of them, it is certainly made after the troubled period of the battle of Odawara, wich was a turning point in the production of armor allover Japan. I think we have to wait till more works from this smith appear, before we can be sure.

when I think of Soshu zaboshi, I have the Odawara Katsuie (相州小田原明珎勝家) as a reference, see picture. Gary's kabuto however is quite different. The quality and execution seems a lot better on Gary's kabuto. I can follow Ian if he thinks on the elaborate Kaga zaboshi. Always learning..

haha, you knew it from the beginning!

Myochin Iehisa, indeed. Soshu work. after Odawara 1590. rare find.

At first glance, I thought it was a Haruta. I am still surprised about the signature.

Thanks guys

Very intersting kabuto, congrats!