Lot 161 AJAPANESE SUIT OF ARMOR, EDO PERIOD (1600-1868)

An antique complete and all-matching black lacquered Japanese suit of armour (yoroi) laced with navy blue, lighter blue and purple cords, and a 2-piece cuirass (kuro’urushinuri iroiro’ito nimai’dô tôsei gusoku), featuring the ‘Sumikiri kaku ni san no ji’-crest 隅切り角に三の字, showcasing the Kanji symbolizing ‘three’ in a square with cut corners.

This crest has been used by many families, but it is most famously associated with the Ôchi clan 越智氏, the governors of Iyo Province. It was also prominently used by the Kôno clan 河野氏, a warrior family renowned for leading naval forces during the Mongol invasions.

• Ko’boshi kabuto (helmet with small rivets) mounted by a rare gilded wooden maedate (decorative front piece) in the shape of a traditional Japanese sickle, known as a kama 鎌. Crafted from gilded wood for the haft and lacquered iron for the blade. The helmet’s 61-plate ‘russet iron’ bowl is meticulously detailed with 62 rows of 29 small pointed rivets each, and is topped by a 5-tiered gilded tehen’no’kanamono (decorative apex fitting) with engraved scrolling foliage. 4-Tiered black lacquered curved ‘kiritsuke kozane’-plate shikoro (neck guards). And small black lacquered fukikaeshi (face guards) boast the family crest in gold lacquer.
• Angry man’ facial mask (resseibô-type menpô) with a separate nose piece, featuring a brown moustache and gold lacquered teeth. The chin is adorned with a short upstanding goatee, a pair of orekugi (helmet cord tying hooks), a large ‘ase nagashi no ana’ (sweat running hole), and a 4-tiered ‘kiritsuke kozane’-plate gorget (yodarekake).
• Sode (shoulder guards), tôsei-type, constructed with 6 rows of slightly arched ‘kiritsuke kozane’-plates laced from top to bottom with 3 rows of purple, 3 light blue, and 3 dark blue cords.
• Kote (bracer), shino-type, lacquered metal pieces connected by Japanese mail (kaushi-gusari), placed over blue cotton with a white floral design. Long vertical-placed pieces are protecting the lower arms, the upper arm with differently shaped plates, like squares, chrysanthemums and reticulated circles with flowers. The elbow’s protective plate is also in the shape of a chrysanthemum flower.
• Dô (cuirass), kebiki-type, constructed with 8 rows of black lacquered ‘kiritsuke kozane’-plates, with two purple laced rows and the others navy blue. Fitted with a cord ring in front with a red agemaki (decorative tassel). The backside with various fittings to place a flag (sagemono): hook (gattari) and support for a flag-pole (ukezutsu).
Hanging from the cuirass 7-parts of 5-piece ‘kiritsuke kozane’-plate kusazuri (tassets).
• Uwa’obi (waist belt) made of green woven cord.
• Haidate (thigh armour), iyô-type, small lacquered oblong plates laced in 5 rows of 36, bordered with green ‘smoked leather’ and attached to matching blue cotton.
• Suneate (shin guards), shino-type, long metal plates connected by Japanese mail placed over en-suite fabric and with a black tateage (knee guards).

Complete with a square store-box for a suit-of armour (yoroi’bako) covered with black leather. Each side adorned with the family crest in relief and gold lacquer. One side equipped with an iron ‘pole carrying’-handle.

Approx. height with box: 155 cm.

Considering its age, the armour is in very good condition with general traces of wear consistent with its age, such as lacquer loss and fabric wear. Refurbishing of lacing and inside of the helmet.