Samourai

1840 · 122137 — Japan: c.1840s. A samurai's armour was a map of his spiritual power A colourful and intricately painted explanation of the complex steps samurai followed to don their famous warrior armour and required undergarments. The sequential illustrations show the fitting of a loincloth shirt and cord belt. The figure puts on trousers slippers leggings sandals greaves and thigh guards followed by the external armoured vest belt and shoulder guards. A couple of paintings show the warrior jumping and moving to test the fit of the armour and the security of the knots. Finally he straps on his swords and secures his mask helmet and arm guards completing a fearsome appearance. This manuscript was brushed on the cusp of the major changes in the status of the samurai. After the Meiji Restoration imperial decrees began to curtail their privileges and elite social standing - changes which transformed works like the present example into valuable historical documents. Quarto 267 x 197 mm ff. 15. With 30 original colour illustrations. Contemporary brown wrappers early 20th-century green thread yotsume toji stitching manuscript title label on front cover. Red ownership seal of the artist Hitomi Yuuichi Gyokuransai d.1968 on first leaf. Losses at foot of spine stitching split but still sturdy worming to wrappers and contents illustrations generally unaffected inner rear cover with old paper repair: a good example attractively illustrated. Antony Cummins & Yoshie Minami eds Samurai Arms Armour & the Tactics of Warfare: the Collected Scrolls of Natori-Ryu 2018. hardcover