Page 89 - Christies Japanese and Korean Art Sept 22 2020 NYC

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AN IRON SOMEN (FULL FACE MASK)
Myochin Munesuke (1642-c. 1735), whose name appears on the lot
EDO PERIOD (17TH-18TH CENTURY), SIGNED MYOCHIN MUNESUKE
here, aggrandized his lineage with the Myochin rekidai zofuku, a list
A russet iron somen (full face mask) boldly modelled and made of supposed ancestors tracing back several centuries. The Myochin
in three main pieces, a brow plate with bold crisp eyebrows and flourished, founding branch schools in the provinces. By the
wrinkles hinged to the mask, the nose attached with turning pins, middle Edo period, the Myochin were confident enough to style
chin and cheeks well defined, applied with two odayori no kugi (cord themselves as”On katchu no kiwame-dokoro, Nippon yuitsu no katchu no
hooks) beneath the chin, red lacquered interior, with two-tier yodare- ryoko,” or “official appraisers of armour, the best in Japan.” There
kake (bib) of matching kittsukezane were successive generations of skilled armourers using the name
8º x 6Ω in. (21 x 16.5 cm.) without bib Munesuke, though the work attributed to the first of that line may
$8,000-12,000 be considered the finest.

PROVENANCE:
Michael Hogarth, Los Angeles, CA