JAPON, ÉPOQUE EDO, XVIIÈME-XVIIIÈME SIÈCLE

The sixty-two plate black lacquered hoshi bachi helmet [helmet with standing rivets] with a matching six lame hineno style neckguard, six stage multi colour tehen kanamono, gilded copper kiri mon [badge in the form of paulownia flowers and leaves] maedate [fore crest], helmet signed Haruta Katsusada, a good black lacquered iron mask with a hair moustache and bold gilt copper teeth, throat defence of kiritsuke kozane, cuirass of black lacquered dangye ni-mai do form [two piece cuirass of mixed styles] with lacquered leather tassets of kiritsuke ko-zane, the lower plate of each lacquered with a gold mon, black lacquered iron oda gote, ko sode of kiritsuke ko-zane, ikada haidate and shino suneate, all laced in mid blue in both close [kebiki] and spaced [sugake] style, with a brown lacquered armour box

Tracing the family by the badges [mon] appearing on armour is notoriously difficult, with few exceptions. Although there are two mon on this armour which narrows the possibilities, there are at least three major families who used this same combination; the Hatakeyama of Takaya in Yamashiro, the Hosokawa of Mikawa in Shikoku and Tamba, and the Imagawa of Fuchu in Suruga.