МАЭ № 13-13

Jingasa Helmet

Japanese

early 19th c.

young bamboo rootstock fiber, cannabis cloth, silk textile, silk wadding, copper wire, lacquer, glue

diameter 43.0, height 6.0

ingasa is a lightweight samurai helmet; various forms of jingasa are known; this one has a form of a round conic hat. The basic material of this jingasa is young bamboo rootstock fiber, coated with the lacquered asanuno fabric both from the inside and outside. The lacquer coating has several layers, the lower layers are red, the upper are black. At the upper brim there is a golden lacquer kamon crest in the form of the manji 卍 character placed into a circle (virtually, only half of the crest is depicted, as if the missing part was “lost” beyond the brim edge). A murasaki color silk headrest (filled with wadding), with a long silk band of the same color is attached to the inside part of the helmet with copper brackets.

Ethnography of East and South-East Asia