Luc T

Btw, I read a post somewhere about an unexperienced dealer who thought this is a late edo hachi. I think the details speak for themselves

More than a year later, the restoration of the kabuto is finished. First we made a study about it, under the supervision of Nishioka sensei, the No 1 restorer in Japan. After a couple of inquiring months, the work started. The soft metal work was restored by Nishioka’s student R. Soanes. Then urushi and odoshi was taken care of by Zenon Vandamme here in Belgium. I was lucky to find perfect matching kuwagata. Here is the result, with a lot of respect for this 15th century relic.

I think we have to deal with an Ichiguchi kabuto (the koboshi). Robert, do you have a front view?

Hello Robert, two interesting hachi you have there. do you have better pictures? The mei is blurry. the second one is a Nagasone style nanban kabuto, strong Chinese influence

The oshitsuke no ita points in the direction or an early production.

The style of the mei isn’t Myochin at all. Some Echizen smiths signed on a similar way

Our fifth Katchū is on the road for our members. Enjoy!

Edo for sure, Iwai is a good guess (but still a guess) nice.

Translation of the printed text: This is a head-shaped helmet with a dark blue thread dignity and a large nail headstall. This helmet has a large nailhead stand, which is one of the designs seen in the kobo of the Sengoku-Momoyama period, but most of them are made of wood. The breast plate of the body is decorated with a dragon in gold lacquer. As the headstand is eye-catching, the body is only decorated with gold maki-e on the breastplate, so that the overall impression is well balanced. Hori Hidemasa was a close associate of Nobunaga, and later served under Hideyoshi, and was loved for his talent, but died at a young age during the Odawara War. He was known for his skill in battle and was called "Kyutaro the master".

Special….. ouch….

Well. It’s a fine set, but top is something else in my opinion. The kabuto looks like a muromachi munehisa, which is good. The menpo is a copy of Munesuke’s or Muneakira’s work by Munetaka, good but not brilliant. The rest of the armor is Daimyo quality, but i have seen (a lot) better than this. The prices were top, that’s sure!

Nice dragons on the muna ita

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Saotome Ietada was without doubt the best Saotome smith. This kabuto, a part of an armour is accompanied with a framed note inscribed: Oboe, kono tabi Ise no Kami sama yori go-hatchu okuri seisaku itaseshi katchu irchiryo kiwame ogon goju-mai haiju itashi-soro gotoku tosho o motte akashi to itashi- soro Jokyo go tsuchinoe-inudoshi Katchushi Saotome letada. On this occasion, I would like to confirm with this document the receipt of the quote of fifty gold pieces for the armour made on order by Ise no Kami in 1688 - Armourer, Saotome letada. I still read very often that the Saotome worked during the 16 century, even after Orikasa sensei discovered Ietada, the first Saotome, started working after Sekigahara.

Dear Barret, if it is for training purpose, it can be usefull without the sode and maedate. Focus on the Momoyama armors. Flexibility and weight will be of primordial importance. The mail will nOt cause too much problems, except when you start using it against real pole arms or swords.

Bonham’s sale is another (lower) level. I don’t think we will see such moves here.

A lot came from the Koeliker collection, Italy indeed.

The armors were good to very good, but not top class. One can expect such prices for Daimyo class material. Easy money? Bitcoin millionaires? If you have a look at the prices for contemporary art (Banksy’s shredder 22M) or Billy the kid’s gun (6.4M) we can conclude it’s not only armor that increases in price.

Many maedate are modern. Simply because everyone wants one.

A lot of good stuff there

Nice haramaki. These things are never cheap.

Sad, I start to miss Japan…

and those Iwai working in Fukuoka...

don't forget that the Meiko zukan was written around 1730, Matsumya Kazan must have known the schools and their work. The Oie-bo is a evoluted remant of the early hoate. And if the Tokugawa shogunal family wanted to distinguish themselves, the oie-bo was a perfect way to express their undisputable status.