Samurai Arm Guard

Right sleeve of a pair of black-lacquered, iron, oda (also called kaga) style samurai arm guards (tetsu kuro urushi nuri oda-gote). The Oda or Kaga style is distinguished by the presence of gourd-like metal plates (hyotan-gane). The exterior fabric is of dark blue silk with multi-colored, flower and ivy brocade with metallic gold thread. The interior fabric is a coarse blue material. The fabrics are joined at an edge made of green leather. Nearly all of the exposed exterior is covered with mail (kusari) made of small, circular links. The black-lacquered cap plate (kanmuri-no-ita) at the shoulder is split into three sections. The central section is embossed with two flowers and the side sections with one flower each. A dark brown toggle made of horn pierces the plate, attached with dark blue silk cord, and the other is detached.

The upper arm has six flanking, ridged, rectangular splints or "rafts" (ikada) around a central gourd-like plate and a rectangular plate above that, all coated with black lacquer. Similarly, the lower arm has four ikada coated with black lacquer around a single large gourd-like plate. Each of the gourd-like plates are embossed with two flowers. The hand guard (tekko) is made of four black-lacquered plates embossed with flowers. The elbow plate (hijigane) is in the shape of a chrysanthemum with an outer ring of petals broken out into four sections. The sleeve is tightened and tied with orange silk cords and secured with toggles.