Translation of armor-print!

[Viper6924]

Hi!

 

Doing a bit of a christmas clean and stumbled on to this Meiji-period print of an armor. Bought it in a antiquarian bookshop in Kyoto 10 years ago. I´m sure I had some great decoration plan for it :D Ended up in a box.. But still got good crisp colors.

Translation of the text would be great.

 

Merry Christmas!!!

 

 

Jan

[Bugyotsuji]

The first half is easy 豊臣秀吉公小具足　

Toyotomi Hideyoshi Ko Kogusoku, (armour of Prince Toyotomi Hideyoshi)

[Bugyotsuji]

My computer does not express some of the Kanji there, but the lower half seems to be

文州さい 本茂 孝真　写し

 

The third character may be an old form of Toride/Sai 塞, possibly meaning the Fortress of Bushu, wherever that is? Then the family name Motoshige, and the first name (101 ways to read those two together), followed by 'copy of' or 'reproduction of'...?

 

If anyone can adjust this in anyway I would be glad to learn. The above is just a guess based on some old reference books here.

[John A Stuart]

Maybe; 文洲案本茂孝 ? ? A book by Shigetaka Yaesu ?? John

[Bugyotsuji]

Or even an art name, suggesting that the artist lived/worked in a group called the "Literature State Castle" deliberately substituting 文 for　武?

 

Ah, so you think that the name starts earlier and the last two characters mean a "true likeness" or "faithful copy'?