BARON VON STILLFRIED, KUSAKABE KIMBEI, TAMAMURA and others

Japanese landscapes and portrait studies, 1870s-80s

Details

BARON VON STILLFRIED, KUSAKABE KIMBEI, TAMAMURA and others
Japanese landscapes and portrait studies, 1870s-80s
Concertina album containing fifty hand-tinted albumen prints, each approx. 8 x 10 in. or the reverse, the majority titled and numbered in the negatives, tissue guards, black lacquer boards with ivory and gilt onlay and shibuichi and shakudo appliqué, the front cover depicting a man and woman on a bridge, the shibuichi and shakudo appliqué in the form of a kneeling courtesan and warrior in front of a house, the back cover with insects and plants, 13 x 16 in., original Japanese cloth box (broken).

Literature

Worswick, Japan Photographs 1854-1905, p. 79;

Lot Essay

The use of shibuichi and shakudo appliqué on this exceptionally fine binding is extremely rare. Shibuichi, metal alloys primarily of copper and silver patinated to a dull-grey finish and shakudo, metal alloys primarily of copper and gold patinated to a black or blue-black finish are more commonly found in Japanese metalwork such as boxes, vases and as sword decoration.

The album includes portraits of musicians, geisha in traditional dress, dancers, women with umbrellas, buddhist priests, shop-keepers (one illus.), women with children; and views around Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nikko, Kamakura, Tokaido, Kobe, Hakone Lake and Myanoshita.

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