Uchidashi Tokan Nari Kabuto

ERA: Momoyama Period (Late 1500s)

STYLE: Uchidashi Tokan Nari Kabuto

SCHOOL:Haruta

REGION: LIKELY CENTRAL JAPAN (KYOTO NARA)

SIGNATURE: None visible


This kabuto is one of the best examples of a Momoyama period Tokan Nari kabuto that you will find for sale. The “Tokan Nari” style was an adaptation of the Chinese court caps. The pictures speak for themselves so I will keep the description brief and point out the most important features. This kabuto is in excellent ubu (unchanged) condition, and has the original uchidashi mabizashi present showing the sharp and deeply executed eyebrows and forehead wrinkles commonly seen in late Muromachi and Momoyama period Haruta school toppai kabuto. This point is important in dating and is a keen point in determining that this kabuto was likely a Haruta school production and produced during the Momoyama period. Such uchi mabizashi are very rare on tokan nari kabuto, the usual being a tokan based off of one form or another a zunari kabuto. One more very important point about this kabuto is that the ribbed design which covers the entire surface is completely uchidashi rather than moriage lacquer. This means that all of those ribs were hammered out into the steel/iron rather than having been applied to the kabuto with lacquer and carved to look like ribs. To achieve such a feat by the uchidashi method and keep proportion in this style of kabuto would take the skill of a master armorer. The eyebrows in the mabizashi show extreme skill, but the fact that the kabuto is ribbed with uchidashi in such a way goes above and beyond par to prove mastery and skill in armor smithing. This kabuto is the work of a skilled artisan in his peak of performance.

This kabuto was displayed in the 2002 “Igyo no Yosoi”, all Japan armor exhibition in Gunma prefecture put on by the Nihon Katchu Bugu Kenkyu Hozon Kai (NKBKHK).

More pictures and description on request.

 

SOLD