 |
 |
 |
Title: Picture of People of the Five Nations: Walking in Line Artist: Sadahide (1807-ca. 1878) 1861:3 Format: Woodblock print Medium: Ink and color on paper Dimensions: triptych: 36.3 x73.9 cm (14 5/8 x29 1/16 in) Source: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution More than 150 figures are in this triptych, a colorful artistic construction that represents the international community of Yokohama as if it were on parade. In groups led by the flags of the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, and the Netherlands, men in military and civilian dress are accompanied by women and a few children. Men from India, wearing turbans, and Chinese men with their hair plaited in queues accompany people representing the Five Nations. Large horse-drawn carriages of various designs are arrayed. One person in the American group at the upper left is carried in a sedan chair by a most unlikely looking group of bearers wearing tailcoats and hats. In 1861, the entire foreign community of Yokohama would have been no more extensive than the population Sadahide has encompassed in this print. The colorful picture is a fantasy that combines the artist's own observations in Yokohama with information from indirect sources such as illustrations from Western newspapers and magazines. [Adapted from Ann Yonemura, Yokohama: Prints from Nineteenth-Century Japan] Visualizing Cultures image number: Y0130 Keywords: "Five Nations," parades, Westerners, United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, Netherlands, Indian, Chinese, military, carriages, animals, flags, Americans, British, French, Russians, Dutch, musical instruments |
On viewing images of a potentially disturbing nature: click here. |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology © 2014 Visualizing Cultures |