Details
Property From a Private West Coast Collection

A blue-laced yoko-hagi nimai-do gusoku armor
Edo period (18th century), helmet bowl with signature Myochin Nobuie and dated Daiei go kinoto tori junigatsu kichijitsu (An auspicious day in the twelfth month of the fifth year of the Daiei era [1525])
The armor with a thirty-two plate russet iron suji-kabuto helmet having the mark of an oblique sword cut, the maedate a gilt roundel with the name of the deity Hachiman, three-tiered lacquered itazane kasa-jikoro (neck guard) with stenciled leather-covered fukigaeshi with gilt fukurin (edging) and shakudo and gilt "triple paving-stone" mon, the mabisashi (peak) also stenciled leather covered with gilt fukurin, robustly carved russet-iron menpo (facemask) with detachable nose, and four-tier nodokake (throat guard) of black-lacquered leather plates, the iron yokohagi nimai-do (cuirass formed of horizontal sheets of iron) with a vivid depiction of a dragon amongst clouds in silver inlay, the munaita, seita and waki-ita covered with stenciled leather, the tsutsu-gote (sleeves) with three plates with dragons in gold maki-e and "triple paving-stone" mon on the tekko (hand covers), the kusazuri of nine tassets each of five tiers of black-lacquered leather plates, the sode (shoulder guards) of six tiers of of black-lacquered kittsuke zane, the haidate (thigh protector) of five tiers of black-lacquered rectangular scales with gold-lacquered dragons, with black-lacquered shino suneate (leg guards)
Accompanied by a certificate of registration as a Juyo bunka shiryo (Important cultural material) no. 430 issued by the Nihon Katchu Bugu Kenkyu Hozon Kai (Japanese Armor Preservation Society), dated 1996.3.24

Provenance
Tsuchiya Uneme, a daimyo of the Tsuchiura clan, by repute

Literature
Katchu bugu juyo bunka shiryo zuroku henshu iinkai, ed., Katchu bugu juyo bunka shiryo zuroku -- dai yonshu (Armor as important cultural material -- volume 4) (Tokyo: Nihon katchu bugu kenkyu hozon kai, 2004), ill. p. 91.

Nihon katchu bugu kenkyu hozon kai, ed., Shashinshu Kinki no meiko -- dai ippen (Collected photographs of famous armor of the Kinki region -- volume 1) (Kobe: Nihon katchu bugu kenkyu hozon kai, Kinki shibu, 1998), pl. 65.
Brought to you by
Place your bid Condition report

A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.

I confirm that I have read this Important Notice regarding Condition Reports and agree to its terms. View Condition Report