Japanese suit of armour

Japanese suit of armour dated between the second half of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th. Composed of lacquered iron sheets, joined together by braids and silk linings. Each clan, each class within the Japanese military society, had its own armourer, which explains the richness and variety of them. Generally, their manufacture was based on a specific basic model that remained unaltered for centuries. The materials used reflect the concern of Japanese armourers for functionality. They became true pieces of art in which the colors used and the shapes of the fittings, were features that identified the different clans.