Shōken, Empress, consort of Meiji, Emperor of Japan, 1850-1914 Search this
Extent:
616 Items (approximate count)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Mammoth plates
Photographs
Photograph albums
Stereographs
Cartes-de-visite
Photographic prints
Place:
Japan
Japan -- 1890-1900
Kyoto (Japan)
Tokyo (Japan)
Yokohama-shi (Japan)
Date:
1860 - ca. 1900
Scope and Contents:
Assembled by collectors Dr. Henry D. Rosin and Nancy Rosin to document nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century photography of Japan. Includes albumen prints, portions handcolored, some signed and numbered in the negative. Taken by photographers Felice Beato (b. ca. 1825), Baron Raimon von Stillfried (1938-1911), Kusakabe Kimbei (active 1880s), Ueno Hikoma (1838-1904), Ogawa Kazumasa (1860-1929) and unknown photographers to depict architecture, landscapes, formal studio portraits, and daily activities.
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically by the creators.
Biographical / Historical:
Henry and Nancy Rosin were collectors of Japanese photography of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Purchase and partial donation.
1 Item (Photographic print : on mount 20.5 x 25.7 cm, hand coloring, image 19.3 x 24.2 cm.)
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Photographic prints
Place:
Asia
Japan
Date:
[ca. 1885]
Scope and Contents:
Sumo wrestling arena with two competitors in the ring, surrounded by spectators. Outdoor setting.
Biographical / Historical:
Born in Italy in 1841, Farsari moved to Yokohama from the United States in 1877 as a tobacco merchant, but soon delved into the art of photography. In 1885, Farsari purchased the Japan Photographic Association studio and stock from Baron von Stillfried. While a fire destroyed the entire stock, it was quickly reproduced within a matter of months, and Farsari moved his studio to where the Yokohama Photographic Company was located. A. Farsari and Co. would eventually become one of Japan's largest photography studios, with over thirty-one Japanese artists. Farsari eventually returned to Italy in 1890.
Local Numbers:
R201 (Rosin Number)
FSA A1999.35 201
General:
Title taken from mount.
Photographer's original title and number are printed in lower left corner of print.
Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Purchase and partial donation.
1 Photographic print (Album 1, page 49, hand coloring, image 26.4 x 20.5 cm.; on mount 26 x 33.5 cm)
Type:
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Photographs
Portraits
Place:
Asia
Japan
Date:
[ca. 1875]
Scope and Contents:
Two wrestlers in competition.
Photographer unidentified.
Biographical / Historical:
Baron von Stillfried was an Austrian noble who arrived in Japan in 1868. In 1871, von Stillfried opened a photo studio in Yokohama under the name, Messrs. Stillfried & Co. In 1877, in partnership with Hermann Anderson, von Stillfried bought Felice Beato's studio and negatives, and continued to take photographs of Japanese people. He eventually left Japan for Hong Kong in 1881.
Local Numbers:
R341 (Rosin Number).
FSA A1999.35 341
General:
Forms part of Rosin album number 1. Page 49.
Title taken from label affixed to bottom center of mount.
This album, with covers of lacquer and ivory, was produced by a shop which used photographs by Beato, Von Stillfried, Kimbei, and others, without including their descriptions or numbers. Each photograph is described by a label affixed below the print. The work is almost certainly by A. Farsari, who owned the stock of all of these photographs in the 1880s. Kimbei kept some stock he had purchased from Von Stillfried in his own shop. Confusion and uncertainty regarding attribution of 19th century Japanese photography is well-discussed in published material.
Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Purchase and partial donation.
A wrestler, flanked by two kneeling retainers, stands in front of a backdrop of Mt. Fuji in a studio setting. Originally part of the Benjamin Lyman Smith album.
Photographer unidentified.
Local Numbers:
R041 (Rosin Number)
FSA A1999.35 041
General:
Title devised by Henry and Nancy Rosin.
445 is printed in both English and Japanese on lower right of print.
Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Purchase and partial donation.
1 Item (photographic print : on mount 30 x 40.3 cm, hand coloring, image20.3 x 25.3 cm.)
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Photographic prints
Place:
Asia -- Japan
Date:
[1860 - ca. 1900]
Scope and Contents:
Two posed sumo wrestlers stand amidst retainers in an indoor studio setting. The man third from left with the fan is a referee.
Biographical / Historical:
Felice Beato was born in Venice around 1825. During his lifetime, he accompanied the British troops in India, recording images of the Indian Mutiny in 1857, and the Franco-British troops in China to cover the end of the Second Opium War in 1859. With his friend Charles Wirgman, Beato opened a photography studio in Yokohama, Japan in the early 1860s, and produced many images of the Japanese and their lifestyle, as interpreted by the Westerners. Selling his studio to Baron von Stillfried in 1877, Beato eventually died in Burma around 1908.
Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Purchase and partial donation.
1 Gelatin silver print (mounted into a disassembled photo album)
Type:
Archival materials
Gelatin silver prints
Photographic prints
Photographs
Place:
Japan
Tokyo (Japan)
Date:
July 28, 1905
Scope and Contents:
Onlookers watch a sumo exhibition match. Alice Roosevelt sits next to statesman Ito Hirobumi (1841-1909) in top hat. This photo was taken on the 26th of July.
Biographical / Historical:
McIntosh was better known as a fashion and society photographer before he joined the Taft Mission.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2009.02 08
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
1 Gelatin silver print (mounted into a disassembled photo album)
Type:
Archival materials
Gelatin silver prints
Photographic prints
Photograph albums
Photographs
Place:
Japan
Tokyo (Japan)
Date:
July 28, 1905
Scope and Contents:
Folio 12 verso, 2nd photograph; Sumo wrestlers pose while onlookers watch. Observers include Alice Roosevelt, Amy McMillan, Ito Hirobumi and Colonel Edwards. This photo was taken on the 26th of July.
Biographical / Historical:
McIntosh was better known as a fashion and society photographer before he joined the Taft Mission.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2009.02.2.12a.2
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
1 Gelatin silver print (mounted into a disassembled photo album)
Type:
Archival materials
Gelatin silver prints
Photographic prints
Photograph albums
Photographs
Place:
Japan
Tokyo (Japan)
Date:
July 28, 1905
Scope and Contents:
Folio 12 verso, 3rd photograph; Sumo wrestlers facing off in ring while members of the delegation watches. Included are Alice Roosevelt, William Taft, Senator and Mrs. Dubois, Colonol Bliss and translator Nagasaki. This photo was taken on the 28th of July.
Biographical / Historical:
McIntosh was better known as a fashion and society photographer before he joined the Taft Mission.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2009.02 2.12a.3
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
(from right) Ichikawa Sadanji as Mizuhiki Seigorō (Kyūryūzan Namiemon), Ichikawa Kodanji as Tobimono Chōjirō, Nakamura Shikan IV as Yotsuguruma Daihachi, and Onoe Kikugorō V as Tobikata Hamamatsuchō Tatsugorō, Onoe Matsusuke as Tobimono Kameemon, Bandō Kakitsu I as Tobimono Fujimatsu, and Onoe Kōzō as Tobimono Kunimatsu in in the play God's Blessing for the Reconciliation of the Me-gumi Firemen and the Sumo Wrestlers (Kami no megumi wagō no torikumi)
H x W (right): 34.7 × 23.4 cm (13 11/16 × 9 3/16 in); H x W (center): 34.6 × 23.4 cm (13 5/8 × 9 3/16 in); H x W (left): 34.6 × 23.4 cm (13 5/8 × 9 3/16 in)
Firemen Fight Sumo Wrestlers at the Shinmei Shrine (Shinmei sumō tōsō no zu) from the series New Selection of Eastern Brocade Pictures (Shinsen Azuma nishiki-e)
H x W (right): 38.2 × 26.1 cm (15 1/16 × 10 1/4 in); H x W (center): 38.3 × 26.1 cm (15 1/16 × 10 1/4 in); H x W (left): 38.4 × 26.2 cm (15 1/8 × 10 5/16 in)
