Page 293 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

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2i6 Saddle Many of the shell pieces have fallen off, 217 Saddle
lacquer on wood with shell leaving only the grooves that held them. lacquer on wood with shell
1
3o(ll 3/i6) The edges of the pommel and cantle, as 29.8 (ii3/ 4)
Heian period well as the underside of the seat, are Kamakura period
painted gold, which is a later addition.
Eisei Bunko, Tokyo This type of saddle, unlike the Eisei Bunko, Tokyo
National Treasure karakura-style saddles used only for cer- National Treasure
The arched pommel and cantle of this sad- emonial occasions, actually was used in This saddle, made of red oak and paulow-
dle are red oak, and the bars, which form battle. One tradition has it that this saddle nia wood, would have provided the rider
the saddle's seat, are soft paulownia. The belonged to the illustrious general Mina- with a secure, stable seat. Saddles of this
ends of the bars that join the pommel and moto Yoritomo (1147-1199). Thirteenth- type are called suikangura (informal sad-
cantle are exposed in front and back, re- century epic narratives that describe dle), or sometimes gunjingura (military
vealing the saddle's basic structure. This battles of the late twelfth century mention camp saddle), which in the thirteenth cen-
type of saddle is called wagura or yamato- saddles with similar designs of oak and tury meant easy to mount but unfit for
gura (Japanese-style saddle) to distinguish owls, suggesting that this design was ceremonial use. This distinction reflected
it from the earlier karakura (Chinese-style widely used in the twelfth century. An ex- new developments in Japanese saddlery
saddle), in which the bar ends are con- cellent pictorial record survives today in a that brought subtle changes in shape as
cealed. The pommel has a scalloped masterly late twelfth-century ink drawing, well as decor. Compared with cat. 216, the
groove on either side for a rider to grasp the Animal caricature scrolls at Kôzanji, rims of the pommel and cantle are thinner
when needed. Small slits on the bars allow Kyoto. (0.7 cm and i.o cm, respectively) and the
a cinch to be passed through and tied This saddle has been in the Hosokawa decoration more elaborate. The rims may
around the belly of the horse. family since the mid-sixteenth century, have been covered by metal (perhaps sil-
The saddle is finished with black lac- when the thirteenth shogun, Ashikaga ver) ridges, now lost.
quer and ornamented with a design of oak Yoshiteru (r. 1546-1565) presented it to Ho- The saddle is finished with black lac-
branches and leaves; on the outer faces of sokawa Fujitaka (Yüsai, 1534-1610), who quer, and its pommel and cantle are exten-
the pommel and cantle are pairs of horned gave it to his fourth son, Takayuki. After sively decorated with inlaid iridescent
owls. All these designs are executed in the Takayuki's death in 1647 it was owned by seashell in the raden technique. Originally,
technique called raden (inlaid iridescent one Arisaka Sadaifu, presumably one of the seat also was richly decorated with in-
seashell), usually that of the yakdgai (turbo the Hosokawa's vassals. YS laid shell. Except for a few sprinkles for
marmoratus) or awabi (abalone). The lac- the pine leaves, most of the shell in this
quer surface, worn and chipped in some area has been lost through abrasion caused
places, has lost much of its original bril- by repeated contact with a rider's armor.
liance and has been partly retouched. The pommel and cantle are decorated

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