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Variant A is not that bad. Variant B, however, seems to be a better match…at least for my untrained eye

Nice helmet of really good quality! Here some info about the maker: Yoshihisa (義久) Myôchin Yoshihisa (明珍義久), late Edo period, lived in Mito (水戸) in Hitachi province. He was a student of the armorer Aizu-Myôchin Unai (右内) who was hired by the Mito-daimyô Tokugawa Nariaki (徳川斉昭, 1800-1860) to instruct the local armorers of the fief. In this sense Nariaki bestowed the character for “Yoshi” (義) to the armorers and Yoshihisa was one of them. Hey signed “Suifu-jû Myôchin Ki no Yoshihisa” (水府住明珍紀義久). Usually the clan name “Ki” was only given to students of the Edo-Myôchin main line, but Unai's master Muneyasu (宗保) also did not belong to the main line but as he was an outstanding craftsman it is assumed that his use of the clan name Ki was tolerated by the main line. Thus he probably also gave this name to his own students.

Can we see the helmet itself?

Indeed, Piers! Glad to have you by my side 🤓

Thanks for the background info, Piers 🙏

So we have “摂州住榎並屋伊兵衛作” (Sesshū jū Enonamiya* Ihei saku). There is a signature recorded with the date “享和元年” (Kyōwa gan‘nen). That is 1801. * not sure about the proper reading…

Hi Piers, I agree with “Ihei” and wonder if the above is 榎並屋?! Hard to tell from the pic under this light… What do you think?

It’s a gun from Sesshū province “摂州住…..兵衛作“. Will try the rest as soon I’m back home…

Someone should start I guess… ”脇丁落平地” Not sure about the one in red?!

When it comes to the Mon we should bear in mind that the helmet might be not in its original condition!

Hi Yves, your reading is correct! Both inscriptions are not uncommon for a work of “Nobuie”. However, I couldn’t find an exact match for the kao, so far…

Kinda news nobody wants to hear. My condolences to his family and beloved!

Hi Laurens, the maker is Munesuke and Kyōhō marks the period!

It seems to be signed “増田明珍主水宗介”, “享保” (Masuda Myōchin Mondo Munesuke + kao), (Kyōhō)

For completeness “大阪住高橋秀次” (Ōsaka jū Takahashi Hidetsugu).

Here you go (from Sesko‘s): AKISUKE (明督), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Tottori – “Shikon Akisuke” (士魂明督), real name Yata Monji (矢田門二), born August 26th 1899, he was working as a swordsmith from about 1942 onwards, the prefix shikon (士魂) means “Samurai spirit” (see picture right)

上野 and 助包 Moriyama San was faster…

It reads “蘭々亭一柳友随” (Ranrantei Ichiryū Tomoyuki + kao)

Wrong approach, IMHO…

I’m with Piers, might be an earlier piece! How is the shikoro looking?

Best I can imagin is an oddly written "久光" (Hisamitsu)??

Last kanji is hard to spot, but I would go for "東備岡山住青江氏春" (Tōbi Okayama-jū Aoe Ujiharu). Date might be "明治囗年二月日". Not sure about the third character. Maybe 二 ?

Hi Jon, menpō can be divided in several types with quality ranging from average to piece of art. Unfortunately not much is written on the subject, even though they represent an interesting collecting field in their own right. However, back to your piece. Hmm, how should I put it….well, it looks very odd! The mask pretends to be a ryūbu-men (mask with calm expression, usually without wrinkles). Actually, some features in the design and workmanship are raising doubts that we are dealing with a real menpō in this case. That is also true for the throat guard (called “tare”). Nodowa is a different piece of armor! We can go through step by step if you like, later on?!

Kind of “Kawara haidate” maybe (roof tile). Not associated to a specific time span, I guess.

It reads “岡田兼定作” (Okada Kanesada saku). Oh, Piers has beaten me…