This helmet made for a high-born military leader is constructed from two main iron sections joined together with metal strips. It has a flat-topped piece supporting a hollow hexagonal post, used to hold a pennant which does not survive. Along the rim are ten protruding pins that originally supported leather or fur ear-flaps, also missing. The visor is formed of a vertical plate with a wavy edge. The helmet is decorated with a fine silver-inlaid motif of dragons among various auspicious symbols. Acquired in 1878, it was one of the first objects to enter the V&A's collection of Korean artefacts. Although originally acquired as Japanese, the Museum records state that the helmet was : "Said to have belonged to a Corean Prince, and was taken by the troops of the Prince of Hizen during Taiko Sama's [Hideyoshi's] expedition from Japan to Corea in 1594."