Samurai Cuirass

A horizontal plate, two-section, or clam-shell, style samurai cuirass (yokohagi-okegawa ni-mai-do). The front of the cuirass is constructed of six horizontal lames while the back is made up of seven. Each lame is made of a single iron plate (ita-mono) then painted with black lacquer. Lames are riveted together and the rivets are ground down even with the surface of the lame. The upper lames are attached to a solid metal plate that wraps around the neck and arm openings which is used to attach other fixtures securely to the cuirass. This plate has a decorative rim (fukurin), which is made of built up black lacquer. A hinge on the left side of the cuirass allows it to open and close and a green tie on the right side secures it when worn. A large circular crest is painted in gold on the center of the cuirass. It depicts a 3-petaled cherry blossom flower with a leaf between each petal. This is the family crest (mon) of wood sorrel flower of the Katabami clan. The crest has three swords separating the leaves which means it is called Maruni Ken Katabami (丸に剣片喰). The upper-most back plate (boko-no-ita) supports the shoulder straps (watagami) which reach over the shoulders to the front of the cuirass. The upper-most front plate (muna-ita) supports toggles made of ivory on brown silk cords which would secure the shoulder straps. A bracket (gattari) is attached to the back plate and serves to support a wooden rod which would hold a battle standard on the wearer's back. The wooden rod would extend down to the lower back where a small cup (machi-uke) would receive it. However, that component is missing in this instance.