Armor (<i>Yoroi</i>)

Armor (<i>Yoroi</i>)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This armor was donated to the Kurama Temple, near Kyoto, by one of the Ashikaga shoguns. During the late Edo period, it passed into the possession of Sakai Tadamochi (酒井忠用, 1723-1775), daimyō (lord) of the Obama fief in Wakasa province and military governor of Kyoto from 1752 to 1756. Sakai had the armor refurbished and its silk lacings replaced with leather ones in the style of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The oldest part of the armor, the helmet bowl, dates from the late Kamakura period (early fourteenth century).

Arms and Armor

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The principal goals of the Arms and Armor Department are to collect, preserve, research, publish, and exhibit distinguished examples representing the art of the armorer, swordsmith, and gunmaker. Arms and armor have been a vital part of virtually all cultures for thousands of years, pivotal not only in conquest and defense, but also in court pageantry and ceremonial events. Throughout time the best armor and weapons have represented the highest artistic and technical capabilities of the society and period in which they were made, forming a unique aspect of both art history and material culture.