Etchu zunari kabuto

[Yamazakura Fr]

Hello
Here is my last find; one "tired" zunari etchu Kabuto that requires a good restoration
Can anyone date this kabuto ?
What is the type of shikoro? ishimanju type ??

what's mon on fukigaeshi ?

 

Thank you

 

Best regards

 

Bernard

[IanB]

Bernard, What you have is a zunari kabuto of the type invented by Hineno Hironari during the late Sengoku Jidai when metal production improved and they could produce large enough pieces of iron. The shaped edges to the plates in the shikoro show that part at least was made in Kaga. There is a lot of misconceptions about Kaga. At the start of the Edo period the Maeda family who held the fief were by far the most wealthy with an income of about 1,500,000 koku per year ( a lord was classed as a daimyo if they had an income of 10,000 koku so it gives you the idea). As a result they had a large number of retainers and their processions on the daimyo gyoretsu were the stuff of legend - sometimes around 3,000 people and regularly 2,000. However, as the Edo period progressed, they had a series of misfortunes, burning down Kanezawa castle seven times, one of which burnt most of the town as well. They also alienated the farmers who sulked for 70 years, all of which saw their income fall to the extent that to keep going they put their lower ranking soldiers to work making armour just to be able to feed them. By the end of the Edo period they were in such dire straights they were excused the gyoretsu altogether. Dating your helmet is near impossible but you could safely say it is Edo period. The ornaments are not mon just chrysanthemum shaped bits to fill the holes which probably held real mon.

Ian Bottomley

[uwe]

There is not much to add Bernard. Ian covered almost all, inclusive a short historical outline!

Only so much, the form of the shikoro might be ichimanjū or komanjū and the shape of the lames is called yamamichi-gata (indeed a Kaga feature).