EDO PERIOD (19TH CENTURY)

Details

A Warabe Gusoku [armour for a boy]
Edo Period (19th Century)
The russet lacquered leather helmet made to represent one of thirty plates, fitted with a ko manju jikoro [neck guard], a mayedate [fore crest] in the form of a pair of kuwagata [horns] with a three bar mon at the centre, the mon also appearing on the fukigaeshi [turn backs], a good mempo [mask], chu sode [shoulder guards] and shino gote [sleeves], the do of ni mai tachi style [of two pieces shaped at the waist], kawara haidate [thigh guards], tsutsu suneate [shin guards] and fur boots, the shikoro, yodarekake, sode and do all of kiritsuke kozane [false lammelae] lacquered gold as are the haidate, the kote and suneate black lacquered, laced almost entirely in green kebiki odoshi [close lacing], the yodarekake [throat defence] in red with the upper front plates of the do in red and white, with gusoku bitsu [armour box]

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Lot Essay

In feudal Japan, boys of noble or Samurai families came of age at about fifteen years. A ceremony called Genpuku was performed at which the boy's forehead was shaved and his hair dressed in the adult style. He was presented with his first eboshi [court cap] and given his adult name. At the same time he would be presented with the swords that marked his rank, and in many cases an armour. This example is almost certainly one made for this purpose.

At approximately two thirds the size of a conventional suit, this armour is made as a functional defence.

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