Samurai Armour No 4 - Edo period

Gusoku-type armour with fivepart cuirass with gold-lacquered plating, braided with indigo blue thread.

Helmet: Tetsu sabiji (roku-jū-ni) 62-ken koboshi bachi kabuto - Late Edo period
Please note how the kabuto / shikoro has been tightly laced in the kebiki-odoshi
style while the gessan/kusazuri plates of the dō, sode and hanpo/tara have been
laced in the more open sugake-odoshi style, creating a deliberate visual and
structural contrast.

Mask: Tetsu kuro urushi nuri hanpo with goldlacquered plating

Maedate: Kachimushi

Cuirass/Dō: High-ranking commander’s cuirass - gold kawadutsumi mogami tosei go-mai-do w/6 dan ita-zane sode, signed 明珍紀宗功作 - Myochin Munekata (Norimune) saku.

Armour with gold plates and blue (purple or red) threads were worn by generals, including those above the position of jiju chamberlain - it was forbidden for normal Samurai to wear this armour. Gold plates are respected because gold is yellow in colour and therefore it belongs to the element of Earth, which governs the four
directions.

Sangu: (Kote, Haidate, Suneate) with dragonflies motif - signed Myochin Munekane