Gunbai Uchiwa long samurai war fan

 

The various implements used by samurai commanders to signal orders on the battered field or to direct troop movements were referred to as jineigu. Among them, the gunbai uchiwa, a fixed fan, was the equipment that was used by generals and daimyō and hence became a symbol of power.

The flat part of this gunbai is decorated with a circle of thirty-four stars on a ōhirame ground (flat-hammered gold balls) with the character “hart” (心) on one side and the character ”vantage” (利) on the other. A large gilt-metal kamon (family crest) from the Mori clan, daimyō of the Chōshū domain during the Edo period, is added on this last side.

The long handle is lacquered in mura-nashiji: gold flakes are sprinkled so that density covered areas run gradually into scarcely sprinkled areas alternately.