Red-and-blue-laced Suit of Armor from the Kii Tokugawa Family. Mid 17th century, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis.

This suit of armor, meant for a samurai of the Edo period, consists of hundreds of lacquered metal and leather plates, interlaced together by red and blue silk cords. This woven technique allows for a wide range of motion and flexibility and is characteristic of the lightweight and portable gusoku armor used by the samurai class throughout the Edo period. As Edo Japan was largely characterized for its perpetual peace, samurai armor evolved into a more decorative marker of status, with the beautifully complex designs denoting its wearer as a powerful member of the military class. This armor may have belonged to Tokugawa Yorinobu of the powerful Tokugawa family, who was a daimyo of the Kii province. This suit was probably not used in battle, but instead for ceremonial purposes, such as in parades or daimyo processions.

Ruby Barone. Image courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.