A RARE KASA [HAT], EDO PERIOD, 17TH CENTURY

This item of headwear is a rare, if not unique example of a Japanese man’s hat. At first glance it appears to be in the form of a jingasa (lit. war hat), a type of travelling hat worn by retainers and foot soldiers (ashigaru). A jingasa was typically conical in shape with a slight brim and was made of leather, metal , bamboo or layers of paper glued together; these were then lacquered, invariably black, resulting in a light and waterproof covering for the head. The hat under discussion makes use of a bamboo substrate (rantai), the outline of which can be made out on the surface through the later applications of layers of lacquer.

Such hats invariably included a mon (family crest) for identification, prominently placed in the centre front. In order to fasten the hat securely to the head while also providing a degree of comfort and stability to the wearer, an atamadai was fitted to the underside, a cloth or straw circle or pad with loops or cords.

On closer inspection, however, the hat does not conform to the standard jingasa. Although it is of conical form, it nevertheless has a markedly upturned brim with a distinctive undulating edge. This is highly reminiscent of Chinese or Tartar hats that are especially associated with netsuke of the mid to late 18^th century, depicted as worn either by Dutchmen, Chinese or other foreigners.[1]

In 1543 the Portuguese accidentally ‘discovered’ Japan when a ship ran aground on the island of Tanegashima, off the south-western island of Kyushu. Eager to pursue trading opportunities and proselytising activities, the Portuguese and other European nations attempted to establish a trading base in Japan. By 1641, however, Holland was the only nation allowed to trade with the Japanese, maintaining a skeleton presence on the man-made island of Dejima, off Nagasaki. The Japanese were forbidden to travel abroad on pain of death, while the Dutch were kept virtual prisoners on Dejima, with the exception of regular audiences by a select few with the shōgun (military ruler). The journey from Nagasaki to Edo afforded the Japanese along the route a rare chance to catch sight of the Dutch. Through such rare sightings, as well as depictions in paintings and prints, the very different physiognomy of the Dutch, their clothing, customs and attributes fuelled a fascination for all things non-Japanese, especially European.

There are in existence a large number of netsuke depicting Asians, Europeans and other non-Japanese, both real and imaginary. Since Japanese craftsmen were unlikely to have had contact with such people, nor would they have had the opportunity to dress-up in Chinese or Dutch clothing, how were they able to depict them in such detail? The answer is likely that workshops in Kyoto or Osaka had in their possession a number of working drawings of different non-Japanese facial types, their clothing and attributes. These could have been used as and when needed, resulting in a variety of reasonably authentic or made-up foreign types, including the Chinese, Dutchmen, their clothing and hats.

Instead of a regular jingasa, this hat undoubtedly represents what the Japanese knew or thought they knew of a Dutch, Chinese or Tartar hat, in particular with its wavy edges. It is possible that the hat was intended for some scene re-enactment, such as a procession, whereby a Japanese person parodied a Dutchman for example. Inadvertently, however, he may have been dressed in the clothes of a Chinese rather than a Dutchman, in much the same manner as mis-matchings occurred on netsuke. 

Unlike a standard jingasa, the main decoration on this hat is on the underside, consisting of an extremely high quality alternating pattern of triangles in gold on black hiramaki-e (low relief maki-e) lacquer; the underside would normally have been lacquered in a plain colour, probably black. Prominently placed is the mon of the Takenaka family, an important family tracing its history back to 1610, consisting of nine leaves in gold on black hiramaki-e within a gold lacquer circle. These are arranged so that they reveal three black diamond shapes in reserve in the centre of the wavy brim, appropriate for the ground pattern of triangles. In the middle of the highly decorated underside is the attachment to secure the hat to the head, so that this was definitely the way the hat was intended to be worn. The outer surface of the hat, on the other hand, consists of a plain off-white lacquer surface that possibly suggests a non-Japanese (Dutch?) cloth used to make a hat from Holland, China or the Tatar region.[2] The outer surface of the hat also includes a mon-like crest that does not appear to be genuine, which is not surprising on a foreign-inspired hat. When this hat is worn, moreover, the mon on the inside is visible from the outside as it is placed on an upward curve of the brim. Rather than being placed on the front of the brim on the outside, the mon-like motif is cleverly placed further back in the centre so that both crests are visible, one behind the other when worn.

[1] Joe Earle, Netsuke: Fantasy and Reality in Japanese Miniature Sculpture, MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 2001, cat. 57.

[2] Gregory Irvine (ed.), Japanese Art and Design, V&A Publishing, 2016, pl. 113. In this illustration, two Dutchmen can be seen wearing a hat with a wavy brim. The figure at the back, second figure from the left is wearing a light, golden-coloured hat similar to that under discussion here.