This is an antique Japanese military sake cup, made of bakelite - an older form of plastic, basically - made in the shape of a helmet. There are four words on the inside of the helmet with two more words in the middle saying "Victory Helmet". The cup comes with original wooden box and a brochure that describes exactly what the helmet is.

According to the brochure, the four words for the cup are actually an ancient good luck charm used first in the war with Korea in ancient Japan, then in Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea in the 16th century. The idea is that this is really a good luck charm - in fact, there's a line at the end of the brochure saying that with this helmet, you no longer need to carry a senninbari for good luck to avoid death in war. This would explain why the cup is in bakelite - a ceramic cup would be pretty fragile in war.

The bottom left of the brochure has the name of the seller - a Takada Eiji, based in Tokyo's Nihonbashi.

Condition: Mint

Size: 2.25" across