Minneapolis Institute of Art

(War Stirrup, one of a pair)

Japan

Date

17th century

Medium

Iron, silver

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

During the Edo period (1600–1868), only warriors of middle or high rank were permitted to own horses. Regional warlords and guards of Japan’s military government used riding equipment ornamented in a manner appropriate to their social position. This pair of deluxe stirrups features a design of blossoming wisteria made of inlaid silver. Inscriptions, also in silver inlay, on each of the buckle-brackets, give the name of the maker as a metalsmith named Kuniyuki, who is known to have worked in the town of Kanagawa in modern-day Ishikawa prefecture. Asia

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