Minneapolis Institute of Art
Helmet hammered as a turban snail
Ryōei 了栄LinkedCulture matchlcp-f9d73f322d73
- Date
- late 17th century
- Medium
- Hammered out of a single sheet of patinated steel
- Department
- Asian Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 146793
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
The legendary smith Ryōei forged this helmet from a single piece of steel which he hammered into the shape of a turban snail, a symbol for protection and thus fortuitous for the bearer. Ryōei became popular during his lifetime for his simple and powerful works and the most remarkable ones were featured in the Illustrated Reference Book to Ryōei (Ryōei zukan), compiled by the military scholar Matsumiya Kanzan (1686–1780) in the mid-18th century. Kanzan showed 31 helmets of which eight have been found today and this extraordinary helmet is one of them. Japan, Asia
The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- The Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund established by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Minneapolis Institute of Art and other institutions.