For sale is a cast metal (bronze?) miniature Japanese or
Korean military armor helmet. The helmet
is about 2 1/4 inches wide and about 1 3/8 inches tall. It is made of heavy
cast metal with a lacquered or bronzed finish.
It has an applied winged dragon mask on the front. It has very good detail, though it is solid
and not articulated like a real helmet.
The mask face and some of the medallions have worn gilding and
silvering, and the interior has a silver finish. There are no marks. I was told
that this piece was brought to the USA by a soldier in the Korean War. It looks like a Japanese helmet, but might be
Korean.
Condition on the helmet is fair. It looks like it has been handled a lot, with
wear to the gilding and bronzing and some dings around the edges. The medallion on the top seems crudely finished;
a piece may have been lost. Regardless a
very interesting little object!