A JAPANESE HELMET (KABUTO) SIGNED SAOTOME IEHISA, EDO PERIOD, 18TH CENTURY

A JAPANESE HELMET (KABUTO) SIGNED SAOTOME IEHISA, EDO PERIOD, 18TH CENTURY with well-formed iron skull of six riveted plates joined at low ribs and each embossed with a gourd in the centre, and flat russet iron tehen no kanamono, signed on a gilt panel inside at the back, The lower edge (koshimaki) of the helmet bowl has numerous holes for fitting the missing neck guard (shikoro). The front of the bowl is fitted with a peak (mabezashi) embossed with a pair of eyebrows and gilt copper alloy rim (fukurin) and fitted with a fore-crest holder and lacquered red on the inside, 18.0 cm high The genealogy of the Saotome School is unclear but it is thought that Saotome Iehisa lived in Hitachi province (modern day Ibaraki Prefecture) and was active in the late Momoyama to early Edo periods. Provenance Important Japanese Swords, Armour and Tsuba, Christie's, 14th November 1967, part of lot 146.