Nickupero Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Hi guys, have this cool looking Kaga armor for sale. Dragonfly and water theme, also has Mt. Fuji everywhere. I remember reading somewhere that the dragonfly symbolized courage as it cannot fly backwards, hence never retreating from battle. Hopefully I got that one right. Uploaded some pics here but the price is displayed on my site. http://nihontoart.com/item-details.php?id=154 Hope you guys like it, donation will be honored if sold here. Email me if you have any questions, thanks for watching! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Beautiful complete set. Love the dragonfly theme. To prevent everyone from removing prices on their items and just saying "follow the link for the price" I still have to insist on a posted price though. In this case, $17500 according to the site. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanB Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Nick, Yet another helmet bowl from the mysterious Kaga smith. I have two that are exactly the same but both in plain russet iron. One belongs to a similar armour to yours except that the dou is russet rather than leather covered and it has more conventional lacing. The other forms part of an armour with a black lacquered hishinui dou. Clearly all these armours have come from the same workshop. Both of mine have the same russet hanbo rather that a menoshita bo, have the interior of the shikoro and the tare of the mask lacquered red, have the same maedate of a disc with rounded edges and in the case of mine, use almost identical brocade on the sangu of one and the inside of the collar of the other. I wonder if the maedate are stock items, sold with the armour just to fill the gap until replaced by something the wearer chooses. There are clearly wide differences as well, which suggests our smith was making armours to specific orders for wealthy patrons. Hopefully a name will emerge in due course. Ian Bottomley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uwe Posted April 10, 2015 Report Share Posted April 10, 2015 Very nice, typical kaga gusoku from the better end. Unfortunately, I already overdone my budget for the year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickupero Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 No Problem Brian, sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused you Ian, a big thank you for taking the time to include your opinion, it is incredible that you have a similar piece from the same Workshop, definitely makes me want to find out more, please keep me posted on your search. And thanks Uwe, I know your a big katchu collector so means a lot coming from you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanB Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Nick, I have today stuck an endoscope into both my helmets by this smith and neither is signed. Both however are very well finished inside and out so we are dealing with a very competent smith. Dr. Orikasa lists the armourers working for the Kaga Han, which up to the late 18th century were all Haruta. My gut feeling, and at the moment it cannot be anything else, is that these helmets are not Haruta work but Myochin. I am basing this on the colour of the metal and the form of the mabezashi more than anything else. In the Kansei era a Myochin Muneyoshi 宗好 who had been a pupil of Edo Myochin Munesuke 宗妙 (this can also be read -tada or -waka?) arrived in Kanazawa and took on students. He died in 1827 and was superseded by Myochin Muneharu who died in 1848 and then Munehisa who was sent to study under Edo Myochin Muneharu 宗治 returning after three years and receiving a stipend for three people in 1863. There were also others related to the Myochin such as Munetoshi 宗壽 who died in 1837, Muneyoshi 宗純 who received a stipend for seven persons in 1865 and so on and so on. Even later Iwai and Bamen smiths turned up, recruited no doubt because of the high demand for sensible armours after the Dutch warned the Shogunate about America's intentions. Both my armours appear to date from around the era when all this was happening in Kanazawa. In fact the armour with the hishinui dou looks brand new and has never had kamon on the fukigayeshi or other identification. It has however been modified by having the front tateage detached and fitted back very neatly with a horizontal hinge so that the top front can be swung down to lie flat against the nakagawa. All I can come up with as to why this was done is that it was for someone with a damaged left arm who couldn't put the armour on in the normal way. The other has shakudo kamon of Toyoda or Nishigaki families. For the moment we are stuck but no doubt something will crop up to identify the maker. Ian Bottomley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickupero Posted April 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Wow Ian, I am real spoiled!!! This is much more background information than I would have been able to find even after quizzing a few of my katchu friends. Your opinions are well put together, while katchu is not what I concentrate on your theories help me to realize just how complex and different this form of collecting can be. Using that endoscope to peer inside is the use of serious hardware, I see to many people handle the inner lining so irresponsibly. Your theory for having the front tateage refitted makes a lot of sense, I enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, I'm sure many members feel the same way and have benefited from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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