 |
|
Home |
|
Rare Hand Painted Japanese Fireman’s Jacket, Taisho browse these categories for related items... All Items: Archives:Regional Art:Asian:Japanese: Pre 1920: item # 390136 Please refer to our stock # 12-172 when inquiring.
B & C Antiques P. O. Box 291 Derby, CT 06418 203-929-7312 Guest Book SOLD |
|
|||||||||
| The dyed dark indigo exterior of this heavily woven reversible fire-fighter’s coat is plainly finished, while the interior is wonderfully decorated in muted tattoo-like fashion with a graphic moonlit scene. Early 20th century. Called “hikeshi hanten” in Japanese, these thickly woven cotton jackets were designed to be wetted down to protect volunteer firemen from bruises and burns while working. The jackets were often distinguished by large characters proclaiming occupation and locality, evidence of the fierce pride the firemen took in their respective groups. The back of this indigo fireman’s coat has the white characters for “Okahei” (probably the region from which the fireman came) surrounded by a circle of white. On the lapel are two lines of white characters reading “hancho” (team leader or chief) of the “Okamoto Mi Shobodan” (fire company). The shoulders of the jacket are decorated with two broad bands of red outlined by two narrow bands of white, and two white bands encircle the middle. However, it is when this jacket is turned inside-out that its image becomes so bold, fresh and powerful. Pale dyed pigments painted directly onto the fabric depict a macabre landscape scene of a human skull and a fox with a bone in its mouth. Behind them is hanging lantern amid tall swaying autumn grasses beneath a large full moon. This design is likely derived from “Nozarashi” (landscape with skull), a rakugo comic story. Painting such a scene inside a fireman’s jacket was suggestive of a phrase in Buddha’s teachings: “At birth and death, human beings have no property but their own body.” (See the “Nozarashi” example is illustrated in Figure 11 in “Fire-fighters’ Jackets: The Kuwata Collection,” the cover story article in DARUMA 19.) The origin of fire-fighters’ jackets, especially those with pictures, is deeply rooted in the tattoos which were popular among Edo fire-fighters in the mid-19th century. The jackets were worn with the indigo exterior side exposed while the firemen were fighting fires and reversed to proudly display the more dramatic painted inside when worn at other occasions or ceremonies. These noble jackets are superb examples of Japanese folk art, and no major mingei collection would be considered complete without one. They are seen in many museum collections, where they are displayed inside-out to show their dynamic pictorial designs. Today it is becoming increasingly rare to find good examples of fireman’s jackets with interior pictures. Overall condition is very good. There is normal wear, especially at the collar. There is also light soiling and some fading on the inside painted scene. Dimensions: 36” from top of collar to bottom of coat, 52” from cuff to cuff. | ||||||||||
|
