Samurai Helmet (Namazu-o Kawari Kabuto)

17th century

On View

Japanese Art, Level 1, North Wing

Samurai Helmet (Namazu-o Kawari Kabuto): 1 of Collection Gallery

Samurai Helmet (Namazu-o Kawari Kabuto): 2 of Collection Gallery

Samurai Helmet (Namazu-o Kawari Kabuto): 3 of Collection Gallery

Samurai Helmet (Namazu-o Kawari Kabuto): 4 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

The monumental scallop shell and elongated shape of this helmet would have made its samurai wearer stand out in a crowd, signaling his high status.

While this helmet derives from military culture, Japan had entered a peaceful era in the 1600s, and many items originally made for warfare took on new lives as ceremonial objects. Every few years, a daimyo, or powerful landowner, wore his most ornate armor to visit and pay tribute to Japan's highest military leader, the shogun. Families also displayed such heirlooms to commemorate notable ancestors who had owned them.

To decorate this sculptural headgear — a type known as kawari kabuto, or “exotic helmet” — artists carved the wood shell, covered it in lacquer, then sprinkled silver dust on the front and coated the back with gold leaf to create shimmering surfaces. The tall, curving form of the helmet evokes the tail of a catfish (namazu), a symbol of strength.

Title Samurai Helmet (Namazu-o Kawari Kabuto)

Artwork Date 17th century

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Japanese

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Metal, wood, lacquer, silver dust, gold leaf, fiber

Dimensions Overall: 26 × 16 1/2 × 14 1/2 inches (66 × 41.9 × 36.8 cm)

Classification Arms and Armor

Department Asian Art

Credit Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2017.1

Markings

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Provenance

(Leighton R. Longhi, Inc., New York, New York, USA);
2017-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Longhi, Leighton R. Forty-five Years in Asian Art. Italy, 2019, p. 162 (fig. 138).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Japanese, Samurai Helmet (Namazu-o Kawari Kabuto), 17th century, metal, wood, lacquer, silver dust, gold leaf, fiber. Detroit Institute of Arts, Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 2017.1.