Strange Shield for Discussion

[Ian]

Hi Rob,

You have proposed an interesting origin for this shield. I hope the originator of this thread gets back to us shortly with the information that you requested. Sometimes other life issues get in the way of ethnographic arms and armour discussions and a prompt reply to questions asked.

[RobT]

Ian,
You are correct of course and I need to take a deep breath.

Using the first two picturesI provided, I believe that we can get an approximate diameter for the item. The mid century modern sofa and chair legs shown in the second photo are typically 1-7/8” to 2” at the bottom. Using that as a guide we can estimate the width of the floor planks as between 3” to 4”. Conveniently, the item is positioned at the front edge of one plank and is just shy of the back edge of the fourth plank. This yields an estimate of just under 12” to just under 16”.

Sincerely,
RobT

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Ian

Hi Rob,

You have proposed an interesting origin for this shield. I hope the originator of this thread gets back to us shortly with the information that you requested. Sometimes other life issues get in the way of ethnographic arms and armour discussions and a prompt reply to questions asked.

That is indeed what is happening. I promise Rob though, I'll get back to him with a few thoughts and dimensions asap.

[A.alnakkas]

apologies for the late reply.

The shield diameter is 47 cm or 18.5 inches. The shield will be shipped to me later on and I can do more measurements, its currently in the care of my friend in the US, Nate Hope.

Here are some thoughts, I believe its a shield and it being a hat (or a helm) is farfetched. I think so because the handles are too close to each other and too far up, along with the cushion which appears if its for a head, it wont do much cushioning. Unless its specifically was made for a person with an extremely long forehead and ears up high in their head.

A feature I noticed is that the two straps are consistently made of different material and different fitting method in my shield and others shared by Gavin. It appears that one strap is made of leather and the other is made of wood fitted with two thin leather straps. The fact that its on the 3 items available for us to examine shows purposefulness and an odd option to do for a hat.

[RobT]

A Alnakkus,

Thanks for the diameter. Armed with that information, I did a google search to see what the typical jingasa diameter was. I only looked at jingasa shaped like your item and the items in the other two threads. I did find one jingasa with an 18.5 inch diameter and three with 17 to 17.5 inch diameters but the bulk of the examples were about 16 to 16.5 inches. The next most common diameter was 14 to 14.5 inches.

I don’t believe the reasons you cite to discount my theory are valid because, if the item started out as a jingasa, the current close together handles and scanty padding would not have been original to the piece but only would have been added when the item was repurposed from a hat to a shield.

Perhaps with your permission (and subject to the moderator’s approval), a request could be placed on the Nihonto Message Board asking them to have a look at this thread (and the other two). If any folks could give us a yea or nay on the jingasa theory it would be them.

Sincerely,
RobT

[A.alnakkas]

Thanks Rob, I am quite interested in their information so please do!

[Ian]

Originally Posted by RobT

A Alnakkus, ...

Perhaps with your permission (and subject to the moderator’s approval), a request could be placed on the Nihonto Message Board asking them to have a look at this thread (and the other two). If any folks could give us a yea or nay on the jingasa theory it would be them.

Sincerely,
RobT

Rob, I don't see any problem with contacting the Nihonto Message Board and requesting an opinion on this item, provided A A is okay with that. Ian

[A.alnakkas]

The construction of the grips and material used gives some info on how its used? all the available examples for us to examine have the same construction with one strap made of leather and the other made of wood.

[RobT]

Hi All,

I posted an ID request in the katchu section of the Nihonto Message Board. Hopefully, we will either get a positive ID or be able to rule out the Japanese jingasa theory.

Sincerely,
RobT