Zunari Kabuto, any information appreciated!

[Bakai]

Hello, I am an avid reader of this forum, and I hope I can get some insight about the following zunari kabuto and menpo.

 

Someone gifted me these recently and I would like to know more about it.

 

The only information I have from the person giving me this, is that it was sold as a momoyama period Kabuto.

 

I personally have some basic knowledge about samurai armor, so I think I could figure out some things at least. The Kebiki Shikoro seems to fit to the  tare on the menpo, so i guess it could be an indicator that this is a matching set, or am I on the wrong path here?

 

The lacquer seems to have completely flaked off of the hachi an the menpo. I think they may have been lacquered black originally, as I can see some leftovers of black urushi between tare and the mask itself. The maedate tsunamoto seems to be a replacement, as it does not sit flush to the hachi and there are two holes situated over it, where I think the original might have been.

 

The steel or iron plates of the kabuto and menpo are rather thin, just under 1 mm where I can measure. The hachi itself weighs about 900 grams (just under 2 pounds).

 

There is no signature.

 

I would highly appreciate informations about this item. Is it a genuine piece of the momoyama period, a decorative piece or a fake? How did it look originally? What kind of maedate would fit?

 

Thank you very much in advance!

 

Saad

 

 

[uwe]

Welcome Saad,

 

at first glance it seems that both pieces were once lacquered and for what reason ever, the urushi was stripped. Maybe too much damaging?!

The kabuto has a nice shape. Paired with this Nara-men and the matching tare/shikoro (kiritsuke-kozane) makes it a “set”, one can say…

Estimating age is, unfortunately, not that easy because Zunari-kabuto as also Nara-men were made over a longer time span. However, provided that the shikoro is original to the helmet, the small fukigaeshi pointing rather to an earlier date, backed by the overall shape of the hachi itself.
I would agree with your assumption that the tsunomoto is a later addition. The two holes above might suggest that a narabi-tsunomoto was initially fitted (or the maker changed mind during his work 🤔).

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Agreeing generally with Uwe’s thoughtful comments above.

There are two things you can do to improve the overall appearance of this venerable kabuto. 
1. You can find a similar colour of fine string and thread it through in three (or five) places in order to reattach the shikoro. This will not damage anything, it will look better, and a professional restorer can simply remove it if ever you decide to get it properly relaced.

2. The lacquer was there to prevent rusting. Now there is dusty (active) red rust overall but it needs stabilizing. Ian Bottomley at Leeds Royal Armouries taught us all how to prepare a mixture of ‘boiled linseed oil’ and a little ‘white spirit’. If you apply it once and wipe it off a day or so later, much of the rusty dusty will come with it, and the base iron will deepen in colour. Rub with cotton cloth. Repeat as necessary until the bowl looks splendid. The magic mixture will also perform the protective duty of the original lacquer.

[Bakai]

Hi Uwe, Hi Piers,

 

thank you for your replies and the insights!

 

Okay, happy to hear that I  was not too far off with my initial assessment.

 

I will reattach the shikoro as you suggested. I would imagine, that getting it relaced will require some more extensive restoration first. The degraded odoshi is all that keeps the urushi in place an glancing at it a bit seriously is enough to make it pop off at this point.

And yes, I will have to get rid of the bad rust. Indeed I read the post about linseed oil/white spirit mixture here in the forum some time ago, thank you for reminding me. 

 

Do you have an idea, what kind of maedate would fit this kabuto?

 

Saad

[Bugyotsuji]

The (female, not male) maedate will need a suitably-sized slot for insertion of the tsunomoto.

People often go for big fancy flashy maedate, but there is a school of thought that this can detract from the kabuto, so small and economical could be the way to go.

 

BTW, it’s not just linseed oil, but the much harder to source boiled linseed oil.

[Bakai]

Hi Piers, 

 

thank you for specifying the boiled linseed oil.

 

And yes, as the Kabuto is rather not a flashy example and more demure, I will go with a Maedate that’s not too elaborate…
 

 

[Iekatsu]

A nice gift indeed. You might want to work at the dislodging the worst of the active rust before you oil, this can be done with ivory, bone or hard plastic.