Japan, Imperial. A Diplomatic Dress Bicorne, c.1900

This is an extremely well-preserved Meiji-era, daireifuku-style Japanese diplomatic dress bicorne, constructed of a smooth reinforced black fur shell. The top of the bicorne is adorned from end-to-end with thin black and brown feathers, while the top brim is adorned with twisted dark-grey bullion wire. The left side of the bicorne has an embroidered circular cockade in the Japanese national bicolour of red and white, superimposed with a black fur band bearing a hand-embroidered gold bullion wire leaf design pinned in place by a bronze button depicting a raised paulownia flower. Two woven ribbon bands, stitched at both ends, complete the exterior decorations, and are set diagonally from the top right side, extending into the interior liner. There is a 50 mm-wide white leather sweatband fully ringing the interior. The interior liner itself is composed of white rayon with a silky texture, at the top of which is a hand-embroidered gold bullion wire name in Japanese characters. The bicorne measures approximately 438 mm in length, with a height of 134 mm. There is some fatigue to the exterior fur lining, but the bicorn is in an otherwise extremely fine condition.