This samurai helmet is built with five iron plates that form a flat surface which has been lacquered in black. Antique samurai helmets of this type were originally made during the late Muromachi period and became popular for their functionality. With such a plain construction they were, in fact, easy to produce butand could be made with thick and resistant iron plates. Due to its shape, this samurai helmet is often referred to as "zunari" (head shaped)(head-shaped), while the term "Hineno" is used to specify that the vertical plate does not overlap the visor, as opposite to the "Etchu zunari" type, used by the samurai of the Hosokawa clan. The same term is used to this kind of shikoro (neck guard): the hineno-shikoro, a creation of an armourer known as Hineno Oribe-no-Kami, was very popular during the latter part of the sixteenth century. It was closer fitting, quite protective, and lightweight; the fukigaeshi (turned-back(turned back portions) tend to be small, ear-shaped variety onvarieties of the earliest kabuto, while during the early 18th century they become larger and more decorated. Here they are covered in printed leather and bordered in gilt metal, while the family crest is applied in the center, shaped as a bellflower (kikyo-kamon), and is made in shakudo.
This rare kabuto is built on a bowl from the Muromachi period and it still bears the exceptional decoration on the hole at the top (hachimanza), typical of that period but very rarely seen on this kind of helmetshelmet, which would normally not have any aperture on top.
During the mid Edomid-Edo period, the kabuto has been refurbished with a new shikoro, lacquer and tatemono (attached ornaments). The exceptional giltwood wakidate are shaped as elongated clams (hamaguri), while the gilt brass maedate on the front represents a crescent moon.