Page 140 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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Helmet in the form of a turbo shell
Early seventeenth century
Iron, lacquer, paper, and gold leaf
3
Height of helmet bowl 18.6 (7 /s)
Tokyo National Museum

• The helmet is basically a simple iron
bowl on which paper (washi) is built
up into the helical form of the turbo
shell and covered with gold leaf. The
shell of the turbo is thick and spiked
to protect it against predators, and 139
such helmets were thus thought to
give the wearer confidence and dis-
quiet his enemies. Despite its bulky
appearance, the helmet is light and
designed for use in battle. Helmets of
such exotic form were fashionable dur-
ing the latter part of the Muromachi
and Momoyama periods, when an
individual could rise in status through
his own prowess in battle. VH

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