A JAPANESE HINENO-STYLE ZUNARI KABUTO BACHI ('HEAD-SHAPED' HINENO HELMET BOWL). SIGNED HARUTA YOSHISA SAKU MUNESABURSÔ (MADE BY HARUTA YOSHIHISA MUNESABURÔ), MUROMACHI PERIOD 1550-1600, with eight heavy iron plates with flat tsuke-mabezashi (fore plate) and koshimaki (lower rim) pierced with holes for fitting a shikoro (neck protector), one inner plate signed Haruta Yoshisa Saku Munesaburô (made by Haruta Yoshihisa Munesabursô), 18 cm high The Hineno-style helmet bowl was simple to make and with heavy plates provided excellent protection against musket balls and sword cuts, especially in combination with the close-fitting Hineno-style shikoro (neck guard). The Haruta school of armourers focussed mainly on the production of helmets with the oldest recorded example of their work being a late fifteenth century helmet signed by Haruta Michichika, now preserved in the collection of Oyamazumi Jinja, one of Japan's most important Shinto shrines.