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Property of various owners
A fine and rare kawari kabuto (Eccentrically shaped helmet)
Momoyama (1573-1615) or Edo (1615-1868) period, early 17th centuryThe russet-iron helmet modeled after the Shinto deity Izuna Gongen, with wrinkles and eyebrows hammered up in uchidashi, the eyebrows applied with decorative iron rivets and surrounded with small dot-sized indentations which originally supported animal-hair eyebrows, the top plates with standing iron spikes in the form of a bird's crest and decorated with thick silver and gold nunome-zogan overlays with two confronted phoenixes breathing fire, the side plates decorated with heavy silver and gold nunome-zogan with stylized kirin, with an older restored liner, the gilt-metal maedate formed as a Buddhist ken (straight sword), the helmet fitted with a conservatively restored five-lame shikoro lacquered black and laced in orange, with gilt-copper family crests applied to the fukigaeshi 6in (15.2cm) high, helmet bowl
注脚
The quality of the iron used to make this helmet, the techniques of folding and preparing the plates, and the uchidashi (embossed) work are all in keeping with armor produced by Haruta smiths and show similarities to other kawari (eccentric) helmets in the Nanban (Western) style associated with the Saiga lineage in Kii Province (present-day Wakayama Prefecture); the decorative rivets also suggest a connection to that group, as seen in a helmet that is an official Cultural Property of Wakayama City, like the present lot with extensive gold and silver inlay, see http://wakayamacity-bunkazai.jp/shitei/3618/. However, it is perhaps more likely that the present lot was produced shortly after the dispersal of the Saiga workshops following Oda Nobunaga's conquest of the region in 1577. The design of the mythological beasts is closely related to the work of armorers active along the coast of the Sea of Japan, particularly in Kaga, or possibly even as far south and west as Hirado; armors from both places, influenced by fashionable Nanban styles, were extremely popular among the wealthy military elite. For a similar helmet by a Saiga smith from this period, compare Alexandra Munroe, ed., Spectacular Helmets of Japan, 16th-19th Century, New York, Japan Society, 1985, no. 6.Visual inspection shows that the decorative rivets have uniform wear and patina, suggesting that the helmet has not been altered since its construction. In order to check this hypothesis, on February 13, 2020 the iron was further examined using X-ray fluorescence spectra tests at one random location on each plate. These tests yielded results that showed a high degree of metallurgical uniformity both between the plates and in the patina on the surface of the iron at each test site. Tests were also carried out at various points within each area of silver and gold zogan (overlay). Trace amounts of copper were detected in the silver, reflecting a level of purity consistent with regional production in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. There are also areas where the gold overlay foil has become discolored due to molecular exchange between the gold and the silver. This is particularly noticeable on the top plates of the helmet at the point where fire projects from the mouths of the phoenixes, as well as in the areas of gold foil under the wings of each phoenix. This silver "creep" patina begins to form only after many years and cannot be artificially created, indicating that the silver and gold overlays have been intact on this helmet for a very long time.
