Helmet

The Nuosu (also formerly known as Lolo) are part of the Yi peoples and have lived in mountainous sections of southwestern China, covering parts of Sichuan, eastern Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, for approximately the past one thousand years. Arts and crafts flourished in traditional Nuosu culture, including weaving, embroidery, silversmithing, and lacquerwork. Notable among the lacquerwork is Nuosu armor, which is made of lacquered leather in a style that is unique to the region and can be recognized by its form, construction, and decoration. Examples of Nuosu armor, while not common, do exist in several museums, and almost invariably consist of one distinctive form of body armor, covering the torso and hips, such as an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 20.142). Nuosu helmets, however, are extremely rare in either public or private collections. The majority of surviving Nuosu armor is decorated with relatively simple geometric patterns and fields of color (usually black, red, and yellow). In addition to its rarity, therefore, this helmet is very significant for the delicate and complex ornament covering both the interior and exterior of the helmet bowl. Most extant Nuosu armor is thought to date from the 19th century. This helmet, based on the refined style of its decoration, could be earlier, perhaps 17th or 18th century.

The helmet comprises a one-piece hemispherical lacquered leather bowl, with rows of rectangular lacquered leather lamellae suspended by rawhide laces from the rim of the bowl at the area of the front, temples, and back. The bowl is covered in complex decorative patterns rendered in glossy black and red lacquer; the lamellae are coated with plain red lacquer with a matte finish on the exterior and yellowish and black lacquer on the interior. There is a circular opening approximately 2 ¾ in. (7 cm) in diameter at the top of the bowl. The opening has an upturned edge with a small ridge in the center front, which is pierced by a transverse hole. The principal decorative scheme of the bowl is divided into four quadrants by broad black bands. Each of the quadrants features an octagonal compartment filled with an eight-pointed flower-like motif composed of ribbon and knot designs arranged in spokes around a circular center. In the two motifs on the front of the helmet, the center of the motif is a black and red circle, bisected horizontally. On the back of the helmet, the center has a stylized peony motif. The rim of the bowl is decorated with an undulating leafy vine or scroll motif around its entire circumference. The interior of the bowl is lacquered red with a pattern of loosely spiraling tendrils in black.

The horizontal rows of rectangular lamellae suspended from the rim of the bowl comprise: one row of seven lamellae at the front; two overlapping rows of five and six at the left temple and three and five at the right temple; and four overlapping rows at the back comprised of 21, 22, 23 and 25 lamellae respectively from top to bottom.