Japan, Empire. A Hatamoto's Haori, C.1840

Exterior fabricated from an embroidered silk, with an intricate design displaying a repeating pattern incorporating dragons and clouds. The design features vibrant colours, with the background in a mid-tone blue, the dragons highlighted in a silvered threading, the clouds and the detailing in the scaling and outline on the dragons in various colours, including pink, salmon, orange, brown, green, blue, white and yellow. The entire perimeter of the haori is trimmed in a fine cord in white and light brown embroidery. There are four dark brown cord loops sewn in place, one on each lapel and one on either side about halfway down along the opening, that affix to buttons with two-tone brown and white embroidered covers on the inside lining. Along the seam on both sides, approximately 120 mm below the loop on the lapel, there is a tab sewn in place, the upper with an embroidered pattern matching that of the exterior of the haori, the underside lined in a gold-coloured silk matching that of the interior and bearing a single button with an embroidered cover matching that used on the exterior of the haori, the tabs trimmed in a fine cord in white and light brown embroidery matching that used on perimeter of the haori. The rear is single-vented and rises to the midpoint of the haori at the wearer's waist. The interior is lined in a gold-coloured silk, with the area between the shoulders presenting a diamond-shaped insignia incorporating two cranes in a fine white embroidery, the eyes and the underside of the eyes of both cranes in black threading, the insignia framed within a 22 mm wide band in white embroidery forming a circle, the circle measuring 157 mm in diameter. Both shoulders have a 190 mm long x 32 mm wide strip of balsa wood wrapped within a white and two-tone brown embroidered panel, and finished with a dark brown braided cord along the top, forming four large loops and knotted at the junction points. The longer sides on each are trimmed in two-tone brown embroidered cord, the outside edge on all four sides trimmed in a fine cord in white and light brown embroidery, matching that of the trim on the haori itself. The haori measures 560 mm in width across the shoulders x 1,230 in width at the bottom x 950 mm in length, exhibiting fraying wear in the cord along the collar, otherwise, it is free of wear and interruptions in the fabrics, with intact stitching, the quality of the manufacturing accentuated by the fabrics used. Extremely fine.

Footnote: A hatamoto (旗本, "under the banners") was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa house, and the gokenin were the lower vassals. There was no precise difference between the two in terms of income level, but hatamoto had the right to an audience with the shōgun, whereas gokenin did not. The word hatamoto literally means "at the base of the flag", and is often translated into English as "bannerman". Another term for the Edo-era hatamoto was jikisan hatamoto (直参旗本), sometimes rendered as "direct shogunal hatamoto", which serves to illustrate the difference between them and the preceding generation of hatamoto who served various lords. The Haori (羽織) is a traditional Japanese hip- or thigh-length kimono-style jacket, worn over a kosode. The haori does not close like the yukata, but is worn open or kept closed by a string that connects the lapels. During the Sengoku period, sleeveless haori were worn over the armour, like the tabard was in Europe. During the Edo period, economic growth allowed the middle class to afford the haori, yielding laws against ostentatious display of wealth by all but the warrior caste; this in turn gave birth to discreet haori designs with lavishly decorated lining. During the early 1800s, the geisha of the Tokyo hanamachi of Fukagawa began to wear haori over their kimono as part of the trend of appearing iki - stylish. Before this time, haori had only been worn by men, making them unusual and fashionable. By the 1930s, women wearing haori had become commonplace, and geisha dropped the practice.