Page 186 - Bonhams Japanese Works of Art September 2015 New York

3364 (detail) 3364 (detail)

3364 (armor box) PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE JAPANESE COLLECTOR

184 | BONHAMS 3364
AN IMPORTANT ARMOR WITH DAIMYO PROVENANCE
Edo period (19th cenutury)
Constructed of honkozane lacquered black and laced in green
with orange and white trim and mounted with elaborate gold
hardware adorned with the crest of the Yamaguchi family and
comprising a 32-plate akodanari nijishiho suji kabuto lacquered
black with three-stage gilt and copper shinodare, fukurin and
igaki, three-stage tehen kanamono carved with chrysanthemum
scroll and with gilt and shakudo flourishes, the bowl mounted
with a five-lame shikoro ending in long fukigaeshi decorated
with stenciled doeskin, fusegumi and gilt copper family crests
on pierce-carved chrysanthemums and trimmed in fukurin, the
mabizashi similarly decorated and mounted with gold and black
lacquer kuwagata-dai applied with gilt chrysanthemum scroll and
family crest and supporting gold-lacquer kuwagata and circular
maedate; a russet-iron hanbo fitted with a three-lame yodarekake;
the do maru decorated with stenciled doeskin on the watagami
and munaita and mounted with family crests on pierce-carved
chrysanthemum scroll, eight sections of five-lame kusazuri, o-sode,
shinogote, Etchu haidate, gold-lacquer tsutsugote, boar bristle
kegutsu with gilt-leather uppers and gilt metal mounts carved with
chrysanthemums, the soles with two layers of gilt leather; with
paper saihai and large yoroi-bitsu, the front panel formed as a biwa

With a letter of attestation by Yamagami Hachiro (1902-1980),
dated 1958.1.31.
$80,000 - 120,000

Provenance
Major-General Takimoto Hidemaro (1892-1962), Akita Prefecture
Viscount Yamaguchi Izumi no Kami Hirokuni (1808-1869), ninth head
of the Yamaguchi clan and lord of Ushiku Castle, Hitachi Province

Yamaguchi Hirokuni was granted leadership of the Yamaguchi clan
and stewardship of Ushiku castle from 1829 until 1839 and was
bestowed with the titles Izumi no kami and Tajima no kami. He
inherited a fief in financial difficulty exacerbated by the Great Famine
of 1833 (Tenpo Daikikin) forcing him to apply strict measures of
austerity.After retiring from office, Hirokuni took the tonsure and lived
as a monk until his death.

Takimoto Hidemaro was a Major-General in the Japanese Imperial Army.

Yamagami Hachiro was a scholar of Japanese history and best
known for his extensive knowledge of Japanese armor. He wrote
Japan’s Ancient Armor in 1940.