NKBKHK meetng: ko zunari

[Luc Taelman]

Peter, i think this was made for ventilation. They had no experience with kabuto without tehen no ana at that time.

[Peter Jones]

Thank you Luc.
Are there any more key characteristics you can think of?
Do Ko Zunari have a certain type of shikoro, like the three lame examples shown above or can they have the five lame hineno shikoro?
I know early zunari are generally smaller but can they be of etchu and hineno types?
Is the construction more rough and ready on an earlier kabuto and do we see a specific type of mabizashi?

[John Wee Tom]

Thank you Luc.
Are there any more key characteristics you can think of?
Do Ko Zunari have a certain type of shikoro, like the three lame examples shown above or can they have the five lame hineno shikoro?
I know early zunari are generally smaller but can they be of etchu and hineno types?
Is the construction more rough and ready on an earlier kabuto and do we see a specific type of mabizashi?

Peter,

You touch on a few of the areas from which one can identify a ko-zunari. I don't think shikoro can be pinned down to 3 or 5 lame because there are also single and double lame versions. Single lame are usually riveted or fixed. I also don't think that they are limited only to hineno jikoro because there are examples with straight edges and faceted edges (like the one I last posted). One thing that I think is usually an indicator of older shikoro is that they usually have thinner lames.

You're also correct that early zunari (and sengoku kabuto in general) are generally smaller in circumference - the black momonari that I posted in the momonari thread is very small as is Luc's example.

The mabezashi is also quite distinctive - not like the typical Haruta, tosei or tsuke mabesashi.

[Peter Frischknecht]

Thanks for the picture John.

As for Peter's question concerning the construction method:
Can we say that ko-zunari always were from the type where the central plate of the hachi overlaps the frontal plate respectively the mabisashi?
Or were there also "hineno" style ko-zunari?

[John Wee Tom]

Thanks for the picture John.

As for Peter's question concerning the construction method:
Can we say that ko-zunari always were from the type where the central plate of the hachi overlaps the frontal plate respectively the mabisashi?
Or were there also "hineno" style ko-zunari?

Peter,

There were also definitely hineno-style ko-zunari.

[Peter Jones]

I have also heard that another clue to spotting an earlier helmet Is the use of black lacquer under the mabizashi instead of the usual red. The same goes for hanbo, black inside instead of red.
I would guess the reasons for this would be economic due to a long and difficult period of war but it may be just down to fashion. Do any knowledgeable members know?

[Peter Jones]

John,
I particularly like the Black example from Odawara Castle, do you have a date for it?

[Luc Taelman]

Most of these kabuto had une and tane mabezashi. The shikoro wasn't hineno yet.

[John Wee Tom]

Here are some pics from the zunari book, Kabuto no Mikata that show examples of ko-zunari in the hineno style. Just to be clear, we're referring to the hineno construction, with the top central plate being riveted under (not overlapping) the front or circling plate - not the hineno style of shikoro.







As well, here are some pages that seem to speak about some of the features of ko-zunari - can anyone provide a quick translation? It will be good when we have the translation of this book completed.

[Luc Taelman]

Hineno Hironari worked during the momoyama era.