Spectacular Helmets of Japan 16th-19th Century

New York: Japan Society, 1985. First Edition (presumed; no prior editions or printings cited). Quarto in red cloth; gilt titles; dust jacket; 193 pp: photographs (some color); 31 cm Fine in Very Good(+) dust jacket; pages crisp and celan, binding tight. Hardcover. ISBN: 9780913304228

Organized by Japan House Gallery and the Association for the Research and Preservation of Japanese Helmets and Armor. | A closely observed passage through the expressive summit of samurai material culture: the kabuto as both battlefield technology and symbolic architecture. Surveying examples from the Momoyama brilliance through the late Edo penchant for theatricality, the book dwells on forms that deliberately push beyond utility—helmet bowls modeled as seashells, oni masks, Buddhist emblems, fantastical animals, and abstracted crests that proclaimed lineage, rank, or cultivated eccentricity. Kanai’s treatment is visual but not merely illustrative; each plate is anchored by concise commentary on construction techniques, lacquer work, iron forging traditions, and the ways provincial schools shaped divergent aesthetic vocabularies. The result is a compact yet resonant monograph that reveals how these extravagant kabuto served as both protective gear and statements of identity within a social order increasingly defined by ceremony, pageantry, and the layered languages of warfare and prestige. | **Somewhat bulky item. Additional shipping fees may be requested for expedited, priority, or international orders.**