Shogan Armoury

[Figure Mad]

Hi Guys

For all the people out there painting the Pegaso Samurai, or may be thinking about it, I just thought I would share with you a little website that i came across in one of my searches for historically accurate images. It seems to me to be one of the most comprehensive websites for Samurai Armour that I have found, most of the items are original items for sale, so are constantly updated, check it out see what you think. I have included a couple of images that might make you want to take a look...

Dave

http://www.trocadero.com/MONTES/catalog/An...nd_Related.html

 

[Figure Mad]

Another Image

 

[Figure Mad]

And another image

 

[Roc]

very nice, thanks for posting.

Cheers
Roc

 

[frank h]

Nice one Dave

Thanks for posting have saved it

Frank

 

[bonehead]

Just for your info, notice that most of the pieces are from the Edo period or later. This was past "the age of War" in the early 1600s. During the Edo period armors were not used for battle but were primarily decorative pieces. Although they are great to look at and often show magnificent craftsmanship, they are not truly representative of genuine Samurai armor as used in battle.

Most of these pieces were made for museums or as presentation pieces. Because of this, these are the types of armor most frequently seen today.

Consult your references.....! But use with caution as many books use the same type of armors for many of their illustrations.

 

[Figure Mad]

Hi Mike

Very good and valid point, and I do agree this is mostly late period. But surely this can give good reference for stitching and the construction of the plate armour, there are some very good images of the inside of helmets. I for one can’t afford to go see some real stuff, although I have seen the exhibits that are in the Victoria and Albert museum in London.

So from a point of view, I do believe that having more information on all of the samurai periods, is better than not enough, also from a sculpting point of view, surely this site will be quite usefull depending on the period you are sculpting, as obtaining access to original armour and weapons is extremely difficult.

Dave

 

[quang]

I'd use the same caveat as Mike's.

Don't let the beautifully photographed pics fool you. These items were made some 200 years after the originals and were not meant to be worn or used in action. As such, they can only be viewed as 'replicas' and not very good ones at that because after centuries of relative peace, the art of armour and weapon making has been lost forever.

The same issue has been raised before here on pF during a discussion about The Last Samurai (Tom Cruise) movie.

Having said that, thank you Dave for the heads-up.

Happy Holidays!

Quang

 

[Stefano Borin]

Thank you very much Dave it'll be too usefull for my job, and next projects




ciao Stefano

 

[Calvin]

Hi Dave, nice reference the one you posted.
Maybe you already know them. If not, you might find interesting the following:
http://www.artsofthesamurai.com/
(about helmets, masks and swords)
http://www.sword.ne.jp/snjindex.htm
(about swords)
http://www.tokugawa-art-museum.jp/english/index.html
(about armours)
Not sure, but if I remember correctly, most of them were pointed out by Augie on his forum (El Paso Honroso).
A very good book, in my opinion one of the best, is the "Arms and Armor of the Samurai", by I.Bottomly & A.P.Hopson. I found it by chance, but I think you can still find it on amazon.

 

[Figure Mad]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the info and guidence, this has set me straight in a few things. And its good for me that the experience of the elder statesman of this hobby is passed on. I shall use the information from this site with caution...

Dave