The Charlier an൩d Cortina Collection o✨f Exotic Samurai Helmets and Armour
Lot Closed
September 28, 01:06 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
The Charlier and Cortina Collection of E꧟xotic Samurai Heꩵlmets and Armour
A Naruto-nari kabuto [wave-shaped helmet] and mempo [face mask]
Edo period, 18th century
the simulated russet iron (sabiji-nuri) bowl with lacquer wave-shaped (Naruto-nari) form to the apex, plain sabiji-nuri peak with hammered brow, small black lacquer turnbacks, the neck guard with spaced lacing (sugake odoshi) in dark blue braid, gilt forecrest (maedate) in the shape of two ferns, sabji-nuri face mask with fierce expression (ressei mempo), wrinkled face and open mouth, detachable nose-plate, wild boar moustache, silver lacquer teeth, red lacquer interior, three-tiered throat protector with close-spaced lacing (kebiki odoshi) in matching braid, accompanied w꧒ith a plain wood stand as illustrated
The helmet when𒉰 mounted on a stand: 54.5 cm., 21½ i🧜n. high (including fittings)
The form of this unusually shaped helmet represents a rolling wa🌳ve, with its stylised crest coiling in the violent motion caused by the vortex of a whirlpool in the Naruto strait. Formed in black lacquer, the shape draws the poetic imagination to the tempestuous waters situated between the provinces of Awa and Awaji infamous for its large whirlpools.
For a different example of a Naruto kawari kabuto, see L. John Anderson et al., Art of Armor: Samurai Armor From The Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection, (Connecticut, 2011), no. 13, pg. 144-45.
For another seventeenth century example, see Jean-Christophe Charbonnier et al., Daimyo: Seigneurs de la guerre au Japon, (Paris, 2018), no. 40, pg. 90.