KAMAKURA PERIOD (EARLY 14TH CENTURY)

Details

A RARE HOSHI KABUTO [HELMET WITH STANDING RIVETS]
Kamakura Period (Early 14th Century)
The sixteen-plate iron bowl with standing rivet-heads heavily black-lacquered, a simple two-plate tehen kanomono [mount for the hole at the top] riveted in place, the almost vertical mabisashi [peak] leather-covered, edged with copper and secured by five copper rivets, at the back a typical kasa jirushi no kan [ring] and on either side a single hole for the attachment of the original chin cord, now filled with a modern leather tie, a komanju-jikoro [small rounded neck guard] of leather hon-kozane [true lamellae] laced with green kebiki [close lacing], the fukigaeshi [turn-backs] plain and undecorated, modern lining and chin cord, old wear

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

Helmet bowls of the Kamakura period are rare and do not appear on the open market very often. This example is particularly remarkable in being in its original condition with the sole exception that at some time a new koshimaki [lower horizontal plate] was fitted, a common procedure when helmets were re-used, and the helmet bowl was reversed. Oddly enough, the shape of the bowl lends itself to being mounted the wrong way round and the overall effect probably benefits from it. Examination of the interior of the bowl indicates that it was originally mounted in the conventional way and the reason for reversing it is hard to determine, but one possibility is that this was done by one of the Ainu people of Northern Japan, a supposition which is supported by the lack of decoration, suggesting a relatively unsophisticated origin. It remains to be explained, however, why the bowl has been reversed.

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