84 - SAOTOME IEHARU: A FINE RUSSET-IRON SUJIBACHI KABUTO WITH KUWAGATA MAEDATE

SAOTOME IEHARU: A FINE RUSSET-IRON SUJIBACHI KABUTO WITH KUWAGATA MAEDATE By Saotome Ieharu, signed Joshu ju Saotome Ieharu Japan, Hitachi Province, c. 1741-1744, Edo period (1615-1868) Published: 1. Ibaraki Prefectural Museum of History, Buyo no Zokei: Hitachi no Kabuto to Token (Forms of Armament: Helmets and Swords of Hitachi), exhibition catalogue, Mito, 1988, p. 48, fig. 93, illustrated. 2. Motoo Yamagishi and Masumi Miyazaki, Nihon Katchu no Kiso Chishiki (Basic Knowledge of Japanese Armor), 2nd edition, Yuzankaku Publishing, Tokyo, 1997, p. 169, fig. 92, illustrated. The russet-iron sixty-two-plate sujibachi iron bowl with finely raised ridges converging beneath a five-stage mixed-metal tehen kanamono, the lowest tier neatly incised with foliate ornament, the bowl fitted to the rear with an agemaki-no-kan suspending a tassel and to the front with a large gilt-wood kuwagata maedate, the boldly sweeping antlers rising from a central kuwagata-dai, the broad iron mabizashi flanked by gently upturned fukigaeshi covered with finely printed egawa and bordered with gilt-metal fukurin, each applied with a gilt-metal circular plaque enclosing a Genjiko motif, surrounded by gilt kiku-form studs and edged with decorative mimi-ito, all above the five-lame black-lacquered iron shikoro, predominantly laced in dark blue. Inscriptions: Signed to the interior of the bowl ‘Joshu ju Saotome Ieharu,’ 常州住早乙女家春, [Saotome Ieharu, resident of Joshu]. HEIGHT 54 cm, WIDTH 39 cm WEIGHT 3.5 kg (excl. stand), 4.1 kg (incl. stand) Condition: Very good condition with minor wear. Typical rubbing to gilt, little flaking, tiny chips to maedate and soiling to leather. With a wood stand. Saotome Ieharu was a master of the Saotome school of armorers and is identified by the Nagoya City Museum as the eleventh generation of the lineage. The Saotome were active in Hitachi Province from the late Muromachi through the Edo period and became particularly renowned for the manufacture of technically accomplished multi-plate iron helmet bowls. Their work includes both sujibachi, characterized by prominently raised ridges, and koboshi-bachi with standing rivets, while signed examples frequently bear the residence inscription Joshu ju, referring to Hitachi Province. High-count constructions of sixty-two or more narrow, overlapping plates are particularly characteristic of the school, and in russet-iron helmets such as the present example the precision of the forging, riveting, and assembly is left fully exposed. Museum comparison: Compare the closely related helmet preserved in the Nagoya City Museum, documentation number 491-0015-00000-0000, forming part of the Akaito odoshi munatori tsurumaru-mon uchidashi nimai-do gusoku. The museum catalogs the helmet as a russet-iron sixty-two-plate sujibachi by Saotome Ieharu and dates the armor to around the Kanpo era (1741-1744), providing a particularly important institutional comparison for the present lot.