Sinitsyn A. About Decorative Features of two Sets of Japanese Armor Suits Acquired by Tsesarevich N. A. Romanov in the MAE RAS Сollection
Alexander Sinitsyn
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0001-7392-1837
E-mail: asin@kunstkamera.ru
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ABSTRACT. The MAE (Kunstkamera) RAS possesses a collection of numerous Japanese rarities (MAE no. 312), acquired in 1891 by Tsesarevich N. A. Romanov. This collection comprises two sets of samurai armor suits; both were exhibited at the permanent exhibition “Japan” created in 1969 by G. A. Glovatsky and R. A. Ksenofontova. In April 2020 a re-exhibition of the “Samurai” showcase took place; the suits were removed from their mannequins and examined in detail. This article, based on the results of this study, examines the typological, constructive and decorative features of these pieces. It should be mentioned that several Japanese inscriptions previously undetected were found on some parts of both sets. So, the massive cuirass of Yukinoshita-do type (MAE No. 312–67), decorated with the family crests of the Tokugawa house, has a signature of a famous 18th century armorer Myochin Shikibu Ki Munesuke 明 珍 式 部 紀 宗 介. As for the suit MAE no. 312-75, inscriptions were discovered in the back inner part of the helmet crown, at the helmet mask and helmet decoration in the form of a demon mask (the latter is a work of a representative of the Deme 出目 family — a leading in the Edo period school of the Noh-theater mask carvers). The revealed inscriptions provide a possibility of a more accurate attribution and dating of these sets of armor, masterpieces of the Edo period traditional Japanese weapon art and important historical objects associated with the Russian-Japanese cultural relations in the late 19th Century.
KEYWORDS: Japanese armor, Tsesarevich N. A. Romanov collection, MAE (Kunstkamera) RAS, Myochin school of armor-makers
DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2022-2(16)-101-115
УДК 069.5:39
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