Walters Art Museum

This iron and lacquer flower-bud-shaped helmet is part of a Japanese suit of armor. The main elements of the helmet are the helmet bowl (hachi), the neckguard (shikoro), and the visor (mabizashi). Each element is constructed from separate pieces of iron and joined with iron rivets. After helmet construction, the iron would have been polished and a “crude lacquer” or “black lacquer” was applied as a preparatory layer and heated to fuse to the metal. A textile was then applied, followed by a ground layer (often clay mixed with animal glue or lacquer) and the final lacquer layers.