A beautiful and impressive original Japanese samurai armor from the Ashikaga clan with Tokubetsu kicho Certification. Early Edo period. Tetsu kurourushinu murasakiito moto Agata Takeshi Mogami dōgusoku which means “iron black lacquered purple thread suketei mogami dou gusoku. The purple thread was expensive to make due to the dye, so it must be from well-ranked Samurai. The kabuto looks like the work of Ichiguchi Myochin school made at the same time as the menpo. Both are made from Tetsu-sabiji. The Certification says Edo jidai chūki, which means mid Edo safely. As a set it looks like the work of early to mid Edo period. (all original) The dragon is also Edo period entirely made of light wood and lacquered, with the eyes made of bone. The family crest on the kabuto is similar to that of the Ahikaga clan. All in all a highly papered and a real great high level samurai armor set. The Ashikaga clan arose in the 13th century from a branch of the Minamoto clan. The Ashikaga samurai gained its power by assisting the emperor in overthrowing the shogunate. The crafty Ashikaga then betrayed the emperor and took the power for themselves, creating their own shogunate and reducing the emperor to a mere figurehead. The clan ruled Japan with absolute power until 1573. #artexclusiveselectionsep23