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Glossary of samurai horse related items.


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Eric, going back to the red lacquered leather cover, notice how the two halves are sewn together so that the whole forms a humped shape - ideal for covering a load on a pack saddle when raining. The other cloth you show might well be a bakin or it could have gone under a regular saddle. I note that modern riders in Japan have to use layer upon layer of cushioning since the legs of the saddles are the wrong angle to fit modern horses.

Piers, Just before I left full-time employment at the Museum, I organised a figure in the Oriental Gallery of a samurai in armour on a horse with the full harness. Although the horse equipment is modern, from a company in Soma, the man's armour is from the collection and is real. The quality of the replica harness is staggering and is virtually indistinguishable from an old Edo set. I did order a fibre-glass saddle for that assembly, but the company actually sent a real old saddle beautifully lacquered with cranes. I am going in on Thursday and will get some good pictures.

Henk-Jan, The answer to your questing is yes. With my set is a padded cover that fits over the saddle both to protect the lacquer and to give the rider rather more comfort than is afforded by the little leather pad. In the case of my outfit, the pad is covered with blue velvet, birodo, but I have seen them covered with e gawa. The little leather pad (shita saki) really has the function of covering the hemp bindings that hold the two fore and aft parts of the saddle tree (igi) together and presumably stopping them from making an indelible impression on the rider's anatomy. On damaged example I have seen was in fact made from layers of wood veneer covered with the leather.

Ian

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Eric, going back to the red lacquered leather cover, notice how the two halves are sewn together so that the whole forms a humped shape - ideal for covering a load on a pack saddle when raining. The other cloth you show might well be a bakin or it could have gone under a regular saddle.
Thanks Ian, I think you solved a mystery for me, I couldnt quite figure out why the red cover had that shape if it was supposed to lay flat, but if it was meant to cover a pack saddle with those two arches it would make sense. The blue cloth I feel would make more sense as a saddle blanket as it does not have tie downs to keep it from flying off as a bakin would.

 

Pack saddle.

 

newsaddle.jpg

 

Pack saddle cover?

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Piers, Thank you for the reference - delightful objects. Interesting how the mane has been tied off into a series of tufts. When I was a lad (and dear old Queen Victoria was on the throne :badgrin: ) a local brewery used to dress its dray horses in exactly the same way. Somewhere I have an engraving from Engelbert Kaempfer's book on Japan that shows a 'commander' on a horse with the mane done the same way. I'll be off to work in a few minutes and will take pics of the horse harness.

Ian

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Gents, I have been into work and photographed the display. I also have added our horse armour (which has come out very badly because it is behind glass) and our display of the harness given as a diplomatic gift to Queen Victoria.

IAN

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Dear Eric, Ian, and Piers,

Although my knowledge of Horse related accrouments is rather limited, ... I must say I have found this thread most interesting and informative. Surely we are indebted to you three members for the explanations not to mention the beautiful photographs that encompass this little known subject of Samurai related objects. Some very rare artifacts have been brought to light which for most of us would never have been seen nor known nor understood beforehand :clap: !

... Ron Watson

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Henk, here is a picture of a saddle seat so you can see the thickness and construction.I found these two cruppers, I have not seen this type before, its not what I usually as far as a crupper and I was thinking it might be for a pack saddle. I have either kura tsubo or basen for the saddle seat while Ian calls it a shita saki, so thats three names for the same item but I can only get kura tsubo to bring up any information when I search all three terms.

http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en ... a=N&tab=wp

 

For the crupper I have shirigai as the name.

 

Edit:I did find ''Basen'' used as the name for the leather seat in this book, along with a few other terms.>

 

Handbook to life in medieval and early modern Japan, William E. Deal, Oxford University Press US, 2007 P.155

http://books.google.com/books?id=i0ni1N ... &q&f=false

 

Edit#2:I found this book has a lot of good information and descriptions also:

Samurai, warfare and the state in early medieval Japan (Google eBook), Karl F. Friday, Psychology Press, 2004 P.97

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=eyMYel ... e&q&f=true

 

 

kuratsubo.jpg

 

 

kuratsubobasen.jpg

 

 

 

cruppers.jpg

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Eric, Yes, I am sure these are part of a pack harness. They seem to have generally been covered in red lacquered leather decorated with gold. They no doubt needed to be sturdy for the task. I note that much of the pack equipment is very stereotyped in style and I wonder whether this was because so many pack animals and their gear were based at the post stations along the roads and hence were essentially 'official' transportation, being hired for carrying loads between the stations.

Ian

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Eric, Yes, I am sure these are part of a pack harness. They seem to have generally been covered in red lacquered leather decorated with gold. They no doubt needed to be sturdy for the task. I note that much of the pack equipment is very stereotyped in style and I wonder whether this was because so many pack animals and their gear were based at the post stations along the roads and hence were essentially 'official' transportation, being hired for carrying loads between the stations.

Ian

Ian, you were right, I found this image of a pack saddle with the same type of crupper, thanks. Do you know if there was a name that denoted a pack saddle?

 

packsaddleandcrupper.jpg

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I actually found a term for pack horses and pack saddles, any comments?

 

English-Japanese dictionary of the spoken language (Google eBook), Ernest Miles Hobart-Hampden, Sir Harold George Parlett, Kelly & Walsh ld., 1904

 

http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA604& ... utput=text

 

Pack-saddle, n. ni-gura ; konidagura

 

Pack-horse, n. ni-uma ; konidauma

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  • 4 weeks later...

Eric, From what I can see of the shape, this is a Chinese saddle tree that has been re-used in Japan. The stirrup and its leathers are Chinese, having the buckle on the leather, not on the stirrup. The kirimon on the outer edge of the aori and other straps indicate they are definitely Japanese. An interesting find.

Ian Bottomley

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Ian, I wonder if this was some sort of fashion of the times, William E. Deal in his book titled "Handbook to life in medieval and early modern Japan" Oxford University Press US, 2007 says

Japanese saddles are classified as Chinese style (karagura) or Japanese style (yamatogura).

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=i0ni1N ... e&q&f=true

 

And this picture has a caption that reads

Horses with Chinese-style saddles (kara gura), colored woodblock illustration from Matoba Katsumi, Shokubako [ On horse ornaments ], 1857. Gift of John and Martha Daniels. National Sporting Library & Museum.

nslhorsebooksmall.jpg

 

The NSLM also loaned a rare Edo-period Japanese treatise on horse ornaments to the exhibition, The Horse in Japan, 1615-1912, which was on view at the Berea College Art Gallery in Berea, Ky., through November 12. The book, Shokubako (On Horse Ornaments), was written by Matoba Katsumi in two volumes in 1857. Illustrated by several color woodblock (ukiyo-e) print illustrations, the text describes saddles, bridles, and other tack and horse ornaments. Shokubako depicts traditional Japanese wagura saddles with elongated slipper-shaped stirrups as well as cerimonial Chinese-style saddles (kara gura) and ornaments meant to evoke T’ang Dynasty horse trappings. This rare treatise is part of the NSL&M’s John H. and Martha Daniels Collection.

 

The NSLM’s book accompanied several examples of Edo-period woodblock prints and paintings on silk from the collections of the Berea College Art Gallery, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, and of Mr. and Mrs. Walter and Dörte Simmons. Dr. Sandy Kita, a historian of Japanese art, co-curated the exhibit with Dr. Elizabeth Tobey, who is the NSL&M’s Director of Research & Publications.

 

http://www.nsl.org/nslkyexhibits.html

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Eric, An interesting factor about the Chinese style saddles. I came across a related point a few months ago. Within Japanese style saddles there are two types: military saddles and courtier saddles. The former have a cantle that when drawn within a circle divided horizontally into quarters, the arch for the horses spine extending up to the 3/4 line. A courtier's saddle have the arch 2/3rds up the circle giving a saddle giving a higher pommel so to speak. Similarly, the pads for a courtier's saddle are a different shape. If you look at the photo of the presentation harness I published earlier you will see the shape of these pads. I suppose these differences are to stop the coutiers from falling off :badgrin: :badgrin:

Ian

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Eric, An interesting factor about the Chinese style saddles. I came across a related point a few months ago. Within Japanese style saddles there are two types: military saddles and courtier saddles. The former have a cantle that when drawn within a circle divided horizontally into quarters, the arch for the horses spine extending up to the 3/4 line. A courtier's saddle have the arch 2/3rds up the circle giving a saddle giving a higher pommel so to speak. Similarly, the pads for a courtier's saddle are a different shape. If you look at the photo of the presentation harness I published earlier you will see the shape of these pads. I suppose these differences are to stop the coutiers from falling off :badgrin: :badgrin:

Ian

Ian, is that the picture of the one given to Queen Victoria? I have been trying to find a clear example of the courtiers saddle to see what that type of saddle looks like compared to the war saddle.

 

William E. Deal in his book titled "Handbook to life in medieval and early modern Japan" P.156 has the names of the two different saddles as "aristocratic saddle (suikangura) and war saddle (gunjingura)".

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=i0ni1N ... e&q&f=true

 

I have occasionally seen bare saddle trees for sale in Japan which looked quite old, some were very ornate, and they were Chinese in style, I had assumed that they were Chinese saddle trees but now I am wondering if I have been seeing a Japanese saddle tree in the Chinese style.

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  • 3 years later...
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