Unusual KOREAN Bronze MINIATURE BATTLE HELMET-Gilt Highlights-NR

Description

For sale is a cast metal (bronze?) miniature Japanese or Korean military armor helmet.  The helmet is about 2 1/4 inches wide and about 1 3/8 inches tall. It is made of heavy cast metal with a lacquered or bronzed finish.  It has an applied winged dragon mask on the front.  It has very good detail, though it is solid and not articulated like a real helmet.  The mask face and some of the medallions have worn gilding and silvering, and the interior has a silver finish. There are no marks. I was told that this piece was brought to the USA by a soldier in the Korean War.  It looks like a Japanese helmet, but might be Korean.
Condition on the helmet is fair.  It looks like it has been handled a lot, with wear to the gilding and bronzing and some dings around the edges.  The medallion on the top seems crudely finished; a piece may have been lost.  Regardless a very interesting little object!