NKBKHK meetng: ko zunari

[John Wee Tom]

The protruding rear crown as seen in the second picture of my last post is another indicator of an older (usually Momoyama) period zunari in the hineno style - perhaps a reference to the bulbous form of the akoda nari that preceded it. Here's another:



Note that it also has the double tsunamoto - another feature of older helmets.

[Richard Jones]

A very interesting topic.
With regard to the six holes in the top plate of the zunari, I completely agree that the holes are there for ventilation but is this a concrete rule or can there be fewer holes and the piece still classified as Ko-zunari? I have noticed a couple of examples in the Gakken ‘Japanese Armour part 1’
The first with the six hole pattern

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and the second with what appears to be a single hole.

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I have also owned a hanpo with the same pattern of 6 holes in the ase nagashi-no-ana and wonder if there is a Buddhist significance to this pattern of 6 holes?

Richard

[John Wee Tom]

Richard,

The second example in your post is definitely a ko-zunari to me. However, I'm wondering if that hole was for attaching a tsunamoto for a kashiradate? Although the first example has the six holes, the rest of it doesn't necessarily say ko-zunari in my view.

[Peter Jones]

Is a Momoyama period zunari a ko zunari or does it have to date from the late Muromachi period?

From what I can find out the earliest kabuto to be classified as a zunari comes from Tosa province and was a type of proto zunari dating from the late Muromachi period.
This proto zunari was then developed by Hineno Hironari (1518-1602) and his brother Yajiuemon. At what date this took place I do not know but I think it would have to have been in the late 1530’s to the early 1540’s at the earliest.
Hineno Hironari became a monk in 1567, was a monk allowed to design and make armour? if the answer is no we have an approximate date for the development of the Tosa helmet to a Hineno zunari from the late 1530’s to the 1560’s.

[Uwe Sacklowski]

Peter,
I guess we are save to claim, that Momoyama period Zunari can not be called Ko-Zunari as such. Takemura san placed the emerge of this kind of kabuto in the latter half Tenbun (1544-1555). Hineno- and Etchu-Zunari, however, appeared around Momoyama (if we follow his theorie).
Also the distinction between eastern and western style Zunari is worth consideration.

[John Wee Tom]

It's funny because all along I've been lumping in Momoyama-era kabuto (i.e. pre-Edo) as "ko", because I have not heard an official definition for what exact period it refers to. But, maybe this is not exactly correct because there is certainly a stylistic difference with the definitive ko-zunari such as the one that is seen at the beginning of this thread and the Momoyama era hineno zunari in my last post. As well, if I'm not mistaken, many of these gold Tachibana momonari are called "ko-momonari" and they date to the Momoyama do they not?

Perhaps Luc can weigh in on this.

[Peter Jones]

John,
That is why I asked the question regarding a specific date for ko zunari. As I understand it ko in this sence means old so perhaps there is no actual date just a vague thought that these zunari are the oldest of the type.

[John Wee Tom]

John,
That is why I asked the question regarding a specific date for ko zunari. As I understand it ko in this sence means old so perhaps there is no actual date just a vague thought that these zunari are the oldest of the type.

My feeling too, Peter. Even the older hineno and etchu zunari might qualify if the specific examples are early enough, but of course, most hineno and etchu we come across are Edo.

[Luc Taelman]

Ko zunari are end of muromachi to early momoyama to me. One of the mayor differences is the mabezashi and shikoro. The hineno shikoro seems to be something momoyama. Whenever you find an end of muromachi kabuto, the koshimaki has been cut to fit for a hineno shikoro.

[Peter Jones]

Uwe,
I agree with you, the distinction between east and west styles is certainly worth consideration.

As far as dating an etchu zunari is concerned the one below was a diplomatic gift to King Philip II of Spain which was part of the 1582 Tensho mission.

It’s difficult to say how old the armour was when captured but we can assume it wasn’t new. This puts it back to the 1570’s

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Worth noting is the fact the armour is from Satsuma, quite a distance from Etchu province so did the Etchu style originate in Etchu or was it just popularised in that province?