Jingasa with dragonfly symbols

[den70]

Good afternoon. Tell a newbie about this, in my opinion, interesting Jingasa. The seller attributed it to the Edo period. The dragonfly symbol is a general sign or a specific clan. Thank you.

[Bugyotsuji]

Hi Den,

The style of lacquering reminds me of the Kaga Maeda Han.

 

The square is a sumi-tate kaku mon. 隅立角 = "a square standing on its corner"

 

The dragonfly, 'Tombo' 蜻蛉 in general language, but 勝ち虫 'Katchimushi' to the bushi warrior class, was a symbol of bravery, as it was thought that they could not fly backwards, so 'never retreat'.　The lacquerwork looks very rough, so my guess is that it is decorative here.

 

Underneath is the katakana symbol キ for 'ki' painted in repeated patterns. Family name begins with Ki, such as Kimura or Kinoshita, etc.(?) Or was the owner a Christian, possibly? Quite unusual.

[den70]

Thanks for your reply, very interesting. I'm more inclined to the version that the repeated symbol inside the jingasa is a dragonfly symbol and not a Christian cross. For the Orthodox cross, one more crossbar is missing, and for the Catholic one, on the contrary, one crossbar is superfluous. Again, if the warrior was a Christian, he would have depicted the cross in a prominent place, like the Crusaders or Christians. If he thus tried to hide it, during the period of persecution of Christians in Japan, then on the contrary, it is too noticeable for prying eyes. But these are my thoughts, I could be wrong.

In your opinion, is this a real combat jingasa or do you think that this is an imitation of a later period due to poor lacquer?

could you tell me or describe in more detail about the emblem and the alleged clan. Thank you.