Prints are gifts of Ambassador William and Florence Leonhart, reproduced courtesy
of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology © 2005 Visualizing Cultures |
An American boy tugs the pigtail of a Chinese servant descending the stairs; a Japanese courtesan looks on.
Sadahide The Observer:
Party
The stripes of the flag in the upper left corner identifies this as an American mercantile firm where a lively party takes place.
...the other man points right toward the dinner party in the L-shaped alcove.
One diner demonstrates Western eating utensils, food raised on the tines of a fork...
A geisha plays samisen...
Two men pivot between the scenes: one gazes toward the courtesan on the left...
...while an American plays a viol, incorrectly held and strummed with a samisen plectrum.
...the number of bottles reflects the large role alcohol played in early Yokohama.
The red, white, and blue pattern of the courtesan’s kimono mirrors the American flag.
Yokohama Boomtown! © 2004 Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
A Project of Professors John W. Dower and Shigeru Miyagawa
Design and production by Ellen Sebring, Scott Shunk, and Andrew Burstein
Based on the catalogue of the 1990 exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution, Yokohama: Prints from Nineteenth-Century Japan,
by Ann Yonemura. © 1990 Smithsonian Institution
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