Kittisol is an obsolete Indian-English term from the 19th Century for paper umbrellas, and rain-cloaks, made of oiled paper, afterwards varnished. They were made in China or Japan, [1] and the name may have originated in the Portuguese quita-sol, meaning "excluding the sun", for parasol. In India, the term extended to the men who acted as umbrella bearers for important persons. [2]
In a treaty with China in 1844, the United States agreed a tariff of 5 mace per 100 catties on exports of kittisols to the United States. [3]
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