JapanX Posted August 9, 2012 Posted August 9, 2012 Very first orders of rising sun made by sword maker Hirato … Each piece was treated as work of art … These are the real gems of Japanese phaleristika! Time to discuss these (practically unknown) rarities From 1st Imperial Ordinance for Medals published in 1975 were know that originally Order of Rising Sun had different and quite unusual construction – paulownia leaf was directly affixed to the sun medallion. Here we have several illustrations from this Ordinance.
JapanX Posted August 9, 2012 Author Posted August 9, 2012 Interesting that even Maximilian Gritzner in his famous book “Handbuch der Ritter- und Verdienst-Orden” (published in Leipzig in 1893) in the section devoted to Rising Sun Order (pp. 185-189) was using these drawings
JapanX Posted August 9, 2012 Author Posted August 9, 2012 7th class (please note the form of the leaf – it is typical for early pieces)
JapanX Posted August 9, 2012 Author Posted August 9, 2012 So for how long this “affixed leaf” type was in use and why it was replaced by clevis mounting? For how long? This is the real question. Well, we know for a fact that in 1895 all rising sun orders already had clevis mounting. Why? Take a look at this very interesting official chart from 1895
JapanX Posted August 9, 2012 Author Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) Another thing that we know for sure is that Hirato workshop had enough time to produce a lot (“a lot” in comparison to orders with affixed leaf) of orders with clevis mounting. A couple of examples can be found here http://gmic.co.uk/in...irato-workshop/ So, for how long? I don’t have an exact answer, but definitely for a very short period of time (and very few pieces were made). Most likely time frame is 1875-1880 or even less. Edited August 9, 2012 by JapanX
JapanX Posted August 9, 2012 Author Posted August 9, 2012 Why it was replaced by clevis mounting? Actually the correct question will be “why there was no clevis mounting in the first place”? It is obvious that the creators of first Japanese order were familiar with French Legion of Honour. I don’t know why they didn’t used time-tested clevis mounting construction from the very beginning. Instead they used direct fixation and (I guess) pretty soon the troubles kicked in. Silver is a soft material. Especially high-standard silver that was used in production of Japanese Orders. I wonder if suns started to pill off from leafs or bend under unsanctioned angles … Not to mention the poor cavaliers of 3rd class… Ok, enough of this small talk – let’s go straight to the treasure!
JapanX Posted August 9, 2012 Author Posted August 9, 2012 (edited) 1st of 1st Thanks to our colleague Pieter ( ) we have an opportunity to examine very first (or one of the very first) 1st class Order of the Rising Sun awarded to Prince Arisugawa in 1875. The award certificate has number 1 Photos came from catalogue of exhibition of the Arisugawa family treasures that was held in Tokyo. Edited August 9, 2012 by JapanX
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