Tokugawa armor sold for $600K to Minneapolis museum

The Minneapolis Institute of the Arts just bought this rare Tokugawa-era suit of armor, made of iron, leather, lacquer, and gold, for $602,500.

The armor came from a Japanese museum that acquired it in 1927 from a treasury that was part of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the family of warlords who ruled Japan from 1600 until 1868. It was made in the early 1600s in Kii Province, south of Kyoto, which was then headed by Tokugawa Yorinobu (1602-71), the 10th son of the dynasty's founder.

The buyers are guessing that it was probably never worn in battle because it's in pristine condition.

Link (Thanks, Misa!)

Comments

[good worker]

they may not indian but my family in Nagoya want their heritage back!
you should see how beautiful and reverently they relate /share /exhibit/ maintain(not preserve) the cultural heritage, anyway there's lots of armor still in Japan, Amerika can enjoy some culture too-obviously they appreciate check this http://www.tokugawa-art-museum.jp/english/index.html

[ninjagin]

When I was in Nikko, I went to see the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu. They had a lot of "treasuries" there. Beautiful place to visit, if you have not been there. At some point, I'll pass a couple photos to Lisa.

[Brian Madigan]

Tokugawa clan has lost some really important cultural pieces in hard times. They've auctioned off treasures to raise money, which resulted in some collectors picking up all kinds of swords and armor for basically nothing. Some of these are rare masterpieces by smiths with almost no other extant work.