A rare Japanese long scroll, makimono, depicting people of twenty-four nations, attributed to Jô Girin (act. 1779-1859)
Edo period, early 19th century
Ink, colour and gold on paper, H. 28.5 x W. 470 cm
A makimono, literally something that unrolls, is a painted or calligraphic scroll that unrolls horizontally. Makimono are a popular and typical Edo period examples of Japanese storytelling, treating various traditional subjects. The present one depicts a classical theme of inhabitants of various foreign nations. Here different nations are represented by couples with short calligraphic descriptions. Traditionally the representations of nations are associated with a, Bankoku Sozu, a map of the whole world. The twenty four peoples represented in the present scroll are, from bottom right to left: Dutch, Persians, Turks, Muscovites, Spaniards, Portuguese, Siamese, Armenians, Hakkas (Banka), Americans, probably Koryaks (Kamchatka), North-Africans, Danes, Hungarians, probably Samarkands (Uzbekistan), Argentinians, Canadians, Taiwanese, Uriankhai (Mongolia), Luzonian (Philippines), Rataran (Mariana Islands), Sumatrans, Italians and Germans.
Ink, colour and gold on paper, H. 28.5 x W. 470 cm
A makimono, literally something that unrolls, is a painted or calligraphic scroll that unrolls horizontally. Makimono are a popular and typical Edo period examples of Japanese storytelling, treating various traditional subjects. The present one depicts a classical theme of inhabitants of various foreign nations. Here different nations are represented by couples with short calligraphic descriptions. Traditionally the representations of nations are associated with a, Bankoku Sozu, a map of the whole world. The twenty four peoples represented in the present scroll are, from bottom right to left: Dutch, Persians, Turks, Muscovites, Spaniards, Portuguese, Siamese, Armenians, Hakkas (Banka), Americans, probably Koryaks (Kamchatka), North-Africans, Danes, Hungarians, probably Samarkands (Uzbekistan), Argentinians, Canadians, Taiwanese, Uriankhai (Mongolia), Luzonian (Philippines), Rataran (Mariana Islands), Sumatrans, Italians and Germans.
Part of the Japan collection.
Related objects
Ura Gyokukin (act. early 19th century)
A Yokohama-e woodblock print depicting a Dutch ship by Utagawa Yoshitora (act. 1846-1880)
Yoshitora was active from about 1850 till about 1880. In 1849 he produced a print the censors interpreted as criticism of the Shogunate and Yoshitora was manacled for fifty days and afterwards moved from Edo to Yokohama where he continued to produce illustrations prolifically, particularly of foreigners who arrived in Yokohama after Japan had been forced to open its ports to foreign trade in 1868.
