Samurai Helmet

Fireman's hat (kaji kabuto). Paper mache hat crafted to emulate the appearance of a 16-plate hat with vertical ridges. Each ridge is made of built up paper mache and painted gold. The hat bowl is painted with black lacquer and each "plate" is studded with a column of five brass rivets totalling 80 rivets across the entire hat. A wide, metal disc sits at the apex of the hat serving as a simplified apical fixture (tehen-no-kanamono). The visor (mabizashi) is split into an upper section painted gold and a lower section painted with black lacquer. The edge of the visor forms three wide scallops. Five similar wide, scalloped edges decorate a rim protruding from the lower edge of the entire hat bowl. Both the visor and the rim around the hat bowl are edged with gold. A large metal ring protrudes from the back of the hat bowl where a decorative silk bow (agemaki) may hang. The intact hat lining (ukebari) is made of blue cloth with two patterned blue hat cords attached. The lining is loose and reveals a illegible characters, possibly a signature, written on the inside the hat bowl. Two forward-facing wings (fukigaeshi) are attached to the sides of the hat bowl with two loops of wire. Each fukigaeshi is lacquered black and bears a gold painted crest of two ginger roots rising up and meeting at the top, forming a circular design (Myoga). The ginger roots are encased in a thick, painted square. The edges of the fukigaeshi are painted gold.