A Superb and Rare ‘Jingasa’ in the Shape of ‘Mount Fuji’

Very fine condition
Black lacquer, wood, cotton, leather, gilt
Japan
Late Edo Period / 1854 - 1860

PROVENANCE:
Ex Private collection

EXHIBITED:
Ministero della Cultura, Museo d’Arte Orientale, Venezia, Italia

PUBLISHED:
‘Daruma Magazine’, Spring 2004, pg. 51, fig. 22

The ‘jingasa’ is a type of ‘kasa’ commonly worn by Samurai and ‘ashigaru’ (foot soldiers). The Samurai class in feudal Japan, as well as their ‘retainers’ and foot soldiers, used several types of ‘jingasa’ made of lacquer, iron, copper, wood, paper, bamboo or leather, which almost always had ‘crests’ on them.
This ‘jingasa’ of ‘ichimonji’ type, moulded from boiled leather, ‘nerikawa urushi-nuri’ and dry lacquer ‘harikake’, is a very unusual hat, the graceful flared flanks and flat top reminiscent of the sacred Mount Fuji. The underside is decorated with small ‘squares’ of gold leaf. Unusally, the hat still retains a ‘washi’ (paper bag) with ‘kanji’ reading: Anseï era, 1857, the year of the Snake, morning glory, ‘Hikokasu’, probably the name of the owner.