Saotome Iyetada Kabuto

[Ed Hicks]

Saotome Iyetada Kabuto...A fine helmet I've owned for over 25 years now and I just now took photos...I forgot the entire mei, but it may be dated. Ed

[Geraint]

Wow! What a beauty! Can I just thank you for sharing these lovely things from your collection, Ed? I for one am really enjoying them.

 

All the best.

[Ed Hicks]

Thanks for the comment, I am dusting off some swords and armor I've owned many years to catalog them properly, so it's a chance to display some pieces. Ed

[uwe]

Very nice work of art from the edo period

Thanks for sharing Ed.

 

Uwe

 

PS: Looks like Genroku 16 (1703)

[watsonmil]

Dear Ed,

May I join Geraint, and Uwe in thanking you for sharing these wonderful items from your collection. I must say I consider it a privilege to have viewed these artifacts and hope you will continue to post more from your collection. Most impressive !

... Ron Watson

[Luc T]

Nice, typical late Ietada. Dated 1737 i think, this is only the second Saotome I know that is dated!

[Ed Hicks]

Thanks for the date confirmation...It's also quite heavy for the period and the tehen is certainly unusual even for Japanese armor...I suppose it's just decorative, but it may represent something I am unfamiliar with. Ed

[uwe]

Hi Luc, you sure with the date. How do you read it :?

 

Uwe

[IanB]

All, I agree with all the previous commentators that this is an exceptionally fine helmet and like others I would have loved to have seen the complete armour. I'm afraid I disagree with the date however. I read the date as Genroku 16 or 1703, he second kanji of the nengo can only be 禄. There is no other nengo with that second character around that era except Bunroku, which is too early for the Saotome. The shape of the tehen kanamono is surely modelled on the turned-over apex of a European Spanish morion or a cabaset, despite the fact that the front and back plates lack a medial ridge. I suppose by the time the helmet was made, the originals had become something of a folk memory.

Ian Bottomley

[uwe]

Thanks Ian for confirming the date. I thought I was wrong, because the first kanji was hard to read.

 

Ed, I think this is a typical piece to part with! But no worry, I will send you my shipping address

 

 

Uwe

[Lance]

Beautiful helmet, I also think the tehen is facing forward in the same manner as the Spanish helmets, but wanted to add it also looks to represent the stem of an eggplant, and is a very clever design utilizing the bowl of the helmet as the eggplant itself (even more so if the Japanese ever jokingly used a term similar to melon for a human head!) Attached a link and an image to illustrate:

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/55732114111117646/

 

Regards,

Lance

[Luc T]

I agree for the date, I misinterpreted the second character. Anyway, very rare to see a dated Saotome.