Suit of Armour
1741 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This suit of armour is made of iron, the copper-gold alloy shakudo, the copper-silver alloy shibuichi, stencilled leather and bear fur. It was mounted and decorated in 1741 by the armourer Haruta Tamba for the head of the Akita family, who were feudal landlords, or daimyo, of the fief of Miharu in Mitsu province, northern Japan. The helmet-bowl was certified in 1675 by Myochin Kunimichi as the work of his mythical predecessor Munesuke but it was probably made by Kunimichi himself.
The armour is mostly tailored in the do-maru style, with the body armour in a single piece fastening at the right, seven small tassets and comparatively little stencilled decoration, but the large shoulder guards and the two elaborate protections for the shoulder-straps are more characteristic of the oyoroi style.
The forecrest, in copper-gilt, represents the chief heraldic badge (jomon) of the Akita family, a court lady's fan charged with two crossed tail feathers of the hawk. This is repeated in miniature on many other parts of the suit in conjunction with finely modelled metal mounts, mostly of peony design in shakudo. The secondary badge of the Akita, a lion and peony medallion, appears in shibuichi on the helmet wings, on the upper plate of each pauldron and on each hand guard.
The armour is mostly tailored in the do-maru style, with the body armour in a single piece fastening at the right, seven small tassets and comparatively little stencilled decoration, but the large shoulder guards and the two elaborate protections for the shoulder-straps are more characteristic of the oyoroi style.
The forecrest, in copper-gilt, represents the chief heraldic badge (jomon) of the Akita family, a court lady's fan charged with two crossed tail feathers of the hawk. This is repeated in miniature on many other parts of the suit in conjunction with finely modelled metal mounts, mostly of peony design in shakudo. The secondary badge of the Akita, a lion and peony medallion, appears in shibuichi on the helmet wings, on the upper plate of each pauldron and on each hand guard.
Delve deeper
Discover more about this object
Object details
Object type | |
Parts | This object consists of 15 parts.
|
Materials and techniques | |
Brief description | Suit of armour in domaru style, iron, gilded metal, shibuichi, shakudo, stencilled leather and bear-fur, mounted and decorated in 1741 by Haruta Tamba for the head of the Akita family, regional feudal rulers of Miharu in Mutsu province, Northern Japan |
Physical description | Suit of armour in domaru style, iron, gilded metal, shibuichi, shakudo, stencilled leather and bear-fur |
Dimensions |
|
Marks and inscriptions | Forecrest in gilded copper representing main badge of Akita family, a fan and two crossed tail feathers of the hawk; secondary badge of lion and peony medallion also features. |
Object history | Mounted and decorated in 1741 by Haruta Tamba for the head of the Akita family, regional feudal rulers of Miharu in Mutsu province, Northern Japan |
Production | Assembled (mounted and decorated) |
Summary | This suit of armour is made of iron, the copper-gold alloy shakudo, the copper-silver alloy shibuichi, stencilled leather and bear fur. It was mounted and decorated in 1741 by the armourer Haruta Tamba for the head of the Akita family, who were feudal landlords, or daimyo, of the fief of Miharu in Mitsu province, northern Japan. The helmet-bowl was certified in 1675 by Myochin Kunimichi as the work of his mythical predecessor Munesuke but it was probably made by Kunimichi himself. The armour is mostly tailored in the do-maru style, with the body armour in a single piece fastening at the right, seven small tassets and comparatively little stencilled decoration, but the large shoulder guards and the two elaborate protections for the shoulder-straps are more characteristic of the oyoroi style. The forecrest, in copper-gilt, represents the chief heraldic badge (jomon) of the Akita family, a court lady's fan charged with two crossed tail feathers of the hawk. This is repeated in miniature on many other parts of the suit in conjunction with finely modelled metal mounts, mostly of peony design in shakudo. The secondary badge of the Akita, a lion and peony medallion, appears in shibuichi on the helmet wings, on the upper plate of each pauldron and on each hand guard. |
Collection | |
Accession number | M.979:1-1928 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
Record created | May 11, 2009 |
Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest