(War Stirrup, one of a pair)

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.