Armor (Gusoku)
The breastplate of this armor is overlaid with a tooled, gilded, and painted piece of leather likely imported from Holland, reflecting the growing interest in European culture and goods in Japan in the eighteenth century, and the creative ways in which this interest was manifested in armorers’ art. Decorative European leather, often originally intended as a wall covering, was used to embellish a range of equipment, including sword mountings and equestrian tacks.
Artwork Details
- Title: Armor (Gusoku)
- Restorer/Conservator: Helmet crest and restorations by Hiromichi Miura (Japanese, b. 1938)
- Date: armor, 18th century; helmet, 16th century; restorations, 2015
- Culture: Japanese
- Medium: Iron, copper, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, lacquer, silk, linen, felt, leather, horsehair, doeskin
- Dimensions: as mounted, H. 40 in. (101.6 cm); W. 20 1/2 in. (52.1 cm); D. 17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm). Wt. 9 lb. 13.2 oz. (4456.5 g)
- Classification: Armor for Man
- Credit Line: Gift of Etsuko O. Morris and John H. Morris Jr., 2018
- Object Number: 2018.833.1a–q
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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