Suit of armour
Category
Arms and armour
Date
1800 - 1850
Materials
Iron, lacquer, silk, copper, gold, hemp, leather, animal hair
Place of origin
Japan
Order this imageCollection
Snowshill Manor and Garden, Gloucestershire
NT 1328751
Summary
Suit of samurai armour, Japanese, of dōmaru (‘body-wrap’) type, in the style of the second quarter of the 16th century but made during the first half of the 19th century, consisting of a helmet (kabuto), a half mask (menpō) with attached throat guard (nodowa), shoulder guards (sode), sleeves (kote) a Mogami-style cuirass (Mogami dō), thigh guards (haidate) and shin guards (suneate), all parts lacquered black apart from the helmet bowl and the half mask, the dark blue silk lacings widely spaced (kon sugake odoshi), the cords of faded red silk, the ties of the tigh and shin guards of dark blue crêpe silk, the metal fittings (kanamono) of gilded copper engraved with stylised tendrils (karakusa), with blue and white brocade lined with dark blue hemp.
Full description
Charles Wade notebook entry: 'Suit of Armour. of black lacquer. Helmet of iron 64 plates with numerous rivets of diminishing size. large neck guard of lacquer plates. large wings. Blazon of MŌRI. on helmet is a ?? carved & lacquered bat like (sketch of detail alongside) mark with gold horns behind. Brown mask. body pieces, tassets & shoulder guards of lacquer plates. Sleeves of black & gold brocade. Chain & lacquer plates. apron brocade with narrow lacquer plaques. leg pieces lacquer plates & chain. Staff with paper tassel. Sword – sheath of black & gold. fr. Oswestry.'
Provenance
Purchased by Charles Paget Wade (1883-1956) from W.E. Jones, Oswestry, for 10s (commander's baton with suit of armour); given by Wade to the National Trust with Snowshill Manor, 1951.