Armor (Gusoku), 16th and 18th centuries; Edo period
Japanese
Lacquered iron, mail, silk, copper-gilt
Technical Glossary
Japanese
Lacquered iron, mail, silk, copper-gilt
H. 67 1/2 in. (171.5 cm)
Gift of Bashford Dean, 1914 (14.100.172)
This armor comes from the armory of Daté Yoshimura (1703–1746), daimyo of Sendai. The helmet bowl, signed Saotome Iye, dates from the sixteenth century; the remainder of the armor was constructed in the eighteenth century. The breastplate is inscribed inside with the armorer's name, Myochin Munesuke (1688–1735). The embossed ornament on the solid iron plates is characteristic of the Myochin school.
