MYOCHIN NOBUYOSHI: AN IRON KOBOSHI KABUTO AND TENGU MENPO

The kabuto by Myochin Nobuyoshi, signed Nobuyoshi
Japan, late 16^th-early 17^th century, Momoyama period (1574-1615)

The components laced predominantly blue and fitted with copper hardware in the form of kiku medallions. The koboshi kabuto with a russet-iron fifty-plate hachi topped by a six-stage mixed-metal tehen kanamono, the iron mabizashi fitted with gilt-lacquered maedate in the form of poetry slips, the fukigaeshi applied with printed leather and adorned with 5–3 paulownia (Go-san no Kiri) mon crests, all above the five-lame shikoro. Together with an iron karasu-tengu menpo with a removable nose plate secured by turning pins and designed with deeply embossed wrinkles on the cheek, the chin with ase-nagashi, the cheeks with bent anchoring posts, and fitted with a four-lame yodarekake with blue lacing. The interior of the hachi signed NOBUYOSHI and inscribed Yawata Dai Bosatsu, Amaterasu o Omikami, Kasuga Daimyojin.

The inscription on the hachi refers to the sansha takusen (oracles of the three shrines), popular hanging scrolls sold at Ise Jinguu that were the focus of devotion and principal image of the Shinto confraternities called sansha takusenkou. The first name on the scrolls is that of Amaterasu Oomikami who is located at Ise Jinguu in Mie prefecture, and who emphasizes the virtue of honesty. The second is Hachiman Daibosatsu located at Iwashimizu Hachimanguu in Kyoto who stands for purity. The third is Kasuga Daimyoujin of Kasuga Taisha in Nara, who represents compassion. The linking of these three deities, especially in the realm of public worship, was quite common from the Kamakura period, but the cult developed more fully in the late Muromachi and Edo periods.

There are three artists with the same name Nobuyoshi 信吉, with all three belonging to the Myochin school.

HEIGHT 26 cm, WIDTH 35 cm
WEIGHT 2,905 g and 457 g

Condition: Good condition with old wear and expected corrosion. Losses, soiling, and tears to the printed leather. One old repair with associated touchups to the maedate.

With a Tokubetsu Kicho Shiryo (Especially Important Object) certificate from the Association for the Research and Preservation of Japanese Helmets and Armor (Nihon Katchu Bugu Kenkyu Hozon Kai – NKBKHK), no. 1013, dated 25 November Showa 59 (1984), confirming the dating above.

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.

Auction comparison:
Compare a related koboshi kabuto and menpo, Momoyama-Edo period, late 16th-early 17th century, at Sotheby’s, The Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armour, 10 May 2022, London, lot 69 (estimate GBP 20,000).