23 Jan 07

The Cutting Edge project at the Pitt Rivers has begun to reveal fascinating new stories about the museum's arms and armour collection. An award from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's Designation Challenge Fund has enabled the museum to research and re-interpret its arms and armour collections and to put together a comprehensive digital record.

New insights have been gained into a number of objects, including one of the museum's suits of Japanese armour. The highly ornate set of armour is now dated at around 1750 even though it was deliberately constructed in an archaic style using intricately laced lacquered steel that dates back centuries earlier.

This armour is believed to be either a diplomatic gift or the Parade Armour of a daimyo, a Japanese feudal lord. The armour comes complete with an iron war fan. This is a symbol of rank and was used for directing troops. The armour also comes complete not only with green and gold silk robes but also bearskin boots, permitted for only high-ranking figures.

The helmet is a particularly fine example of the armoury of the period; it is ornately decorated with chrysanthemum motifs, alluding to the Emperor. The mask is designed to be scornful, whilst the figure at the top of the helmet represents the face of a mythical ogre said to eat living flesh.

This is not an isolated example, new stories have been revealed about a number of objects, including another suit of Japanese armour, known as 'clamshell' armour because it is formed of hinged halves. The cuirass, the main body of the suit, is now thought to be a century older than previously believed. The armour was dated to 1800, but the new research has revealed that the wide plates of the cuirass are the hallmark of earlier periods.

Study of the suit has also given us some insight into the history of the wearer of the armour. The suit once bore the heraldic crest of a daimyo. This was deliberately rubbed off at some point, suggesting that the wearer became a ronin, a samurai who had abandoned his daimyo.