6th Dec, 2024 10:00
Fine Japanese Art
134
A NIMAI-DO GUSOKU (TWO-PIECE CUIRASS ARMOR) WITH A TOKAN-NARI KABUTO AND KIRI MON BANNER
Sold for €13,000
including Buyer's Premium
Japan, late 16th-early 17th century, Momoyama period (1573-1615)
The components of lacquered iron laced in blue, mounted on a rich blue and gold brocade, and fitted with gilt kanamono.
The armor comprising:
A tokan-nari kabuto with black-lacquered iron bowl in the form of a Chinese courtier’s hat, the peak pierced with a 5-3 paulownia crest in openwork, the gently upturned mabisashi fitted with a gilt-lacquered maedate in the form of a Wachigai mon, associated with the Wakisaka clan, flanked by the gold-lacquered wakidate carved as the hat’s elongated flaps, fitted at the back of the helmet, all above the five-lame jikoro; a black-lacquered iron menpo with a removable noseplate, facial hair, red-lacquered lips and gold-lacquered teeth, laced with a three-lame yodarekake; a hon-kozane nimai-do fitted at the back with an uke-zutsu holding a silk banner of shihanbata form striped to the top and centered by a 5-3 paulownia (Go-san no Kiri) mon, and with seven sections of five-lame kusazuri; a pair of six-lame sode; a pair of lacquered haidate decorated with the Wachigai mon in gilt; pairs kote and tekko with kusari and foliate mounts; and a pair of suneate. All contained in an armor box painted with Wachigai mon.
Condition: Very good condition with wear and expected losses, chips, and cracks to the lacquer, minor tears to fabric.
The paulownia mon has over 140 variations, one of the most common being the 5-3 paulownia (Go-san no Kiri), adopted as the ‘everyman’ crest. Today, it is found in the emblems of the Ministry of Justice, the Imperial Guard Headquarters, and the University of Tsukuba. Previously used alongside the Kiku-mon as the mon of the Imperial Family, it was later granted by Emperor Go-Daigo to Ashikaga Takauji after he captured Kyoto during the failed Kenmu Restoration. Generally, it was worn by anyone who can govern Japan as a nation, or in the context of the Sengoku era, who can capture the then-Imperial Capital of Kyoto. Because of this, when Oda Nobunaga drove the Miyoshi clan out of the Imperial Capital, the Kirimon was given to him by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
This helmet’s distinct shape gained popularity among the samurai beginning in the late sixteenth century and is based on high-ranking Chinese Tang dynasty courtiers’ traditional headwear, called kanmuri in Japan.
Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related tokan-nari kabuto, 17th century, at Sotheby’s, The Charlier and Cortina Collection of Exotic Samurai Helmets and Armour, 28 September 2022, London, lot 2 (estimate GBP 20,000).
Japan, late 16th-early 17th century, Momoyama period (1573-1615)
The components of lacquered iron laced in blue, mounted on a rich blue and gold brocade, and fitted with gilt kanamono.
The armor comprising:
A tokan-nari kabuto with black-lacquered iron bowl in the form of a Chinese courtier’s hat, the peak pierced with a 5-3 paulownia crest in openwork, the gently upturned mabisashi fitted with a gilt-lacquered maedate in the form of a Wachigai mon, associated with the Wakisaka clan, flanked by the gold-lacquered wakidate carved as the hat’s elongated flaps, fitted at the back of the helmet, all above the five-lame jikoro; a black-lacquered iron menpo with a removable noseplate, facial hair, red-lacquered lips and gold-lacquered teeth, laced with a three-lame yodarekake; a hon-kozane nimai-do fitted at the back with an uke-zutsu holding a silk banner of shihanbata form striped to the top and centered by a 5-3 paulownia (Go-san no Kiri) mon, and with seven sections of five-lame kusazuri; a pair of six-lame sode; a pair of lacquered haidate decorated with the Wachigai mon in gilt; pairs kote and tekko with kusari and foliate mounts; and a pair of suneate. All contained in an armor box painted with Wachigai mon.
Condition: Very good condition with wear and expected losses, chips, and cracks to the lacquer, minor tears to fabric.
The paulownia mon has over 140 variations, one of the most common being the 5-3 paulownia (Go-san no Kiri), adopted as the ‘everyman’ crest. Today, it is found in the emblems of the Ministry of Justice, the Imperial Guard Headquarters, and the University of Tsukuba. Previously used alongside the Kiku-mon as the mon of the Imperial Family, it was later granted by Emperor Go-Daigo to Ashikaga Takauji after he captured Kyoto during the failed Kenmu Restoration. Generally, it was worn by anyone who can govern Japan as a nation, or in the context of the Sengoku era, who can capture the then-Imperial Capital of Kyoto. Because of this, when Oda Nobunaga drove the Miyoshi clan out of the Imperial Capital, the Kirimon was given to him by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru.
This helmet’s distinct shape gained popularity among the samurai beginning in the late sixteenth century and is based on high-ranking Chinese Tang dynasty courtiers’ traditional headwear, called kanmuri in Japan.
Auction comparison:
Compare a closely related tokan-nari kabuto, 17th century, at Sotheby’s, The Charlier and Cortina Collection of Exotic Samurai Helmets and Armour, 28 September 2022, London, lot 2 (estimate GBP 20,000).
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