A Japanese lacquer kura [riding saddle], Signed with kao [cursive monogram], Edo period, dated Kanbun ichinen kugatsu hi (a day in the 9th month of 1661)

Fitted with two black lacquered wood side boards (igi), the present lot is of the typical form known as a suikan-gura, a civilian riding saddle named after the suikan, a light dress worn by the nobility. These types of saddle are of a wider fit to allow for a large saddle. Carved to each side of the pommel are low-shouldered hand-shaped (tegata) indentations. A cross-mark crest (juji mon) is emblazoned to the centre of the pommel flanked by two swallow birds in flight. It is thought that this crest may have even derived from the shape of a horse’s bridle.

The origins of wood saddles with high pommel and cantle can be traced back to the Kofun period (circa 300-538 AD) and are present in depictions of haniwa horses from the same period. The form of this early saddle developed into the gunjin-gura, or campaign saddle, and suikan-gura, the most common types of cavalry saddle seen on the medieval battlefield. In the Edo period (1603-1868), marked by the unification of Japan, two centuries of peace and a closed border policy (sakoku), the latter style was adopted for formal use in samurai processions to and from Edo (sankin kotai). During these two centuries of national isolation, Japan was essentially held at a temporal standstill, rigorously adhering to its feudal system, whilst albeit cultivating knowledge of foreign lands through its tightly managed port cities. Production of saddles was formalised – even the sixteenth century matchlock rifles with which the archipelago managed to deter the encroaching Christian missions were unerringly manufactured in the same manner by gunsmiths well into the nineteenth century. This internal peace permitted the preservation of medieval horse and other military accoutrements, successfully passed down generation to generation, even after continuous ceremonial use over the centuries, until the present day.