This charming collection of Japanese works comprises watercolours depicting scenes from everyday life at the end of the 19th century. Featuring images from the distinct cultural life of Japan, such as sumo wrestling, calligraphy, cooking and festivities, these works were likely produced for the export market as souvenirs for Western visitors, in much the same way paintings on pith and Company School paintings were collected in China and India respectively. The unfamiliar scenes would delight the Victorian tourist, whilst the style of painting, incorporating naturalistic perspective and detail, would appeal to Western aesthetic tastes.
After nearly 300 years of almost complete isolation from the globe, the Japanese Meiji period (1868–1912) saw an unprecedented opening up of Japan to the West. New political stability following the end of the Shogunate, and the introduction of regular steam packets across the Pacific, meant that Japan became an increasingly popular destination for Western travellers and a regular stopover on round-the-world tours. After Chinese, Britons made up the largest number of foreign residents in the treaty ports and were the largest foreign national group to journey outside them. Cultural and decorative objects were brought home by travellers and towards the end of the century Japonism became extremely fashionable in Europe, ultimately having a significant impact on Modern art and design in the West.
The aesthetic exchange that these works represent is particularly interesting in light of the strict cultural isolationism traditionally pursued by Japan. Although the port treaties of 1858 newly allowed foreign visitors to Japan, foreigners were only allowed to live in certain cities and travel within a narrow radius of them—protecting a geographical and cultural Japanese 'interior'. From 1875, travel freedom was extended but carefully controlled and curtailed by the use of permits with strict stipulations. Only in 1899 did the treaty port system come to an end and foreigners could travel, trade and reside anywhere in Japan. But far from being subsumed by Western influence, the strong traditions of Japan remained, Japanese commercial and industrial interests flourished, and a distinct Japanese aesthetic endures to this day.
