Samurai Face Guard

Black-lacquered grotesque samurai helmet (tetsu kuro urushi nuri kawari-bachi kabuto). This kawari kabuto, also known as a grotesque helmet, is of built up paper mache or leather on a zunari kabuto, or five-plate head-shaped helmet, base. The decorative element covers every surface of the helmet and is textured like black-painted reptile skin. Seven gold lines emanate from the center of the forehead above the visor and terminate in crescents around gold circles. The material is built up in a way reminiscent of wings swept back atop the helmet. The helmet lining (ukebari) is intact and an orange helmet cord is attached. A five lame, hineno style neck guard (shikoro) is attached to the helmet bowl with four rivets. Each lame is coated with leather or paper mache formed over a strip of wide, double-humped, "false scales" (kiritsuke koishi gashira iyozane) to give the appearance of individual scales. The scales are further textured and painted black to give the appearance of rough animal skin. Lames are connected by dark blue silk cords in the sugake-odoshi style. The bottom lame showcases a row of tweed lacing above a bottom row of dark blue lacing in a cross knot pattern. The tweed lacing also lines the left and right sides of each lame. Metal supporting rods (shiki) behind the lames are sticking out of the lowest three lames on the right side. Two forward-facing wings (fukigaeshi) emerge from the top lame of the neck guard. The fukigaeshi are covered in the same textured material as the rest of the helmet and bear no crests. Mask attached, see CG2016-1-59.2,