Lot 60 EXCEPTIONAL SUIT OF ARMOR EDO PERIOD

An antique, ensembled black lacquered Japanese suit of armour (yoroi) (kuro’urushinuri nimai’dô tôsei gusoku).

– Black lacquered eboshi’nari kabuto (court cap shaped helmet) mounted by a large gilt copper maedate (front crest) shaped like stylized arched antlers. Flanked by small fukikaeshi (face guards). 3-tiered ‘itazane’-plate shikoro (neck guards) laced with navy blue silk cords.
– Black lacquered gentle ‘brave man’-facial mask (ryûbubô) with gold lacquered lower teeth, otayori (cord securing spikes), a ‘ase nagashi no ana’ (sweat running hole) and 3-tiered ‘russet iron’-lacquered ‘kiritsuke kozane’-plate gorget (yodarekake) laced with dark green cords.
– Sode (shoulder guards), tôsei-type, constructed with 5 rows of arched black lacquer ‘kiritsuke kozane’-plates laced with navy blue cords.
– Kote (bracer), ‘shino’-type, ‘russet iron’-lacquered metal pieces connected by Japanese mail (kaushi-gusari), placed over navy blue cotton. Chrysanthemum-shaped plates to protect the elbows.
– Black lacquered bucket-shaped dô (cuirass) of the ‘hotoke’-type. The breast plates are formed from a single plate laced with yellow and light green silk cords. The front with a red agemaki (decorative tassel) knotted on a cord ring with a backplate shaped like a chrysanthemum flower.
Hanging from the cuirass 7-parts of 5-piece ‘kiritsuke iyozane’-plate kusazuri (tassets).
– Haidate (thigh armour), of 4-rows of 8 black lacquered ‘iyo’-plates, placed over green/yellow brocade silk with a feather design.
– Suneate (shin guards), ‘shino’-type, with vertical black lacquered metal plates connected by kaushi-gusari placed over grey silk with a golden stripe and black dot motif and brown tateage (knee guards).

Including purple crêpe silk jinmaku 陣幕 (camp enclosure curtain) with two white crests 紋 (mon) depicting a wood sorrel in a circle 丸に片喰 (maruni katabami). And an envelop with inscribed papers in Japanese, presumably describing all the different parts of this ensemble.

With a square black lacquered store-box for a suit-of armour (yoroi’bako) with red lacquer rims and ‘pole-carrying’ handles. The front of the store-box decorated with a gold lacquered character mae 前 (‘in front’) in gold. The Kanji ‘Mae’ meaning ‘the first’; in other words: ‘I, who has priority above others’.

Considering its age it is in a fair condition with loss of lacquer, wear of fabric, and defects of connections. Please take a close look at the photos for a condition reference.

Approx. height with box: 160 cm.
Period: Japan – Although the parts are not of the same suit-of-armour, they all date from Mid- to Late Edo period (18th century-first half 19th century). The jinmaku and yoroi’bako are of a later date.