Firefighting group of ‘Hauchiwa’,’Hikeshi Banten Kakuji’ and ‘Hikeshi Daimon’

The pattern of this Katagami was designed for dyeing fabrics (clothing, flags etc.) related to a firefighting group, or firemen. Each element has a meaning related to fire fighting in the late Edo period (1780-1867). 'Hauchiwa' (winged feather fan of a long-nosed goblin), reresents a god which prevented fire in the late Edo period and was a pattern signifying authority. 'Hikeshi Banten Kakuji' (Powerful rectangular geometric character design for fire fighters' Jacket) pattern, and 'Hikeshi Daimon' (Circle design pattern for fire fighters' jacket)were expressed as a rectangular geometric letter, or a simple mark such as a circle, X, triangle and/or diamond; also a bold kanji or Hiragana character. These patterns were different and unique for each fire-fighting group, and were worn on ‘Hanten’ (quilted jacket), which were adored and admired by the townspeople in Edo city. This is one of around 400 Japanese katagami stencils which are part of the Silver Studio Collection. The stencils were produced in Japan as a way of applying patterns to fabric, mainly kimonos. The katagami collected by the Silver Studio were used by their designers as reference material to produce their own Japanese-inspired patterns. This Katagami employed the Itoire technique. This is one method of silk thread reinforcement in Katagami. Itoire was a detailed technique which was applied to Katagami by veteran female artisans at Shiroko, Ise, from about 1750. Itoire was used until 1920. See Markham, Mamiko (2018): Katagami technique Itoire. Middlesex University Journal contribution. https://doi.org/10.22023/mdx.6477776.v1