Description:

Mid-19th C. Japanese Woodblock
San Francisco, CA, January 1, 1866
Mid-19th C. Japanese Woodblock Prints in Charming Annotated Album Gifted to San Francisco Resident in 1866, At the Cusp of the Meiji Restoration
Artwork
A lovely collection of mid-19th-century Japanese woodblock prints bound in an album, some pages hand-colored and featuring manuscript inscriptions, with the first page inscribed as: "'A remembrancer' / to V. Williams from his friend C. Vellimilo / S.F. 1st Jan. 1866." January 1, 1866. San Francisco, California. The album contains approximately 39 prints, 13 of which are annotated in pen or pencil. Bound with green thread and contained in soft pale blue wrappers. Expected wear including toning, scattered stains and ink bleed-through, folds, wrinkles, and chipped edges, else very good. About 40pp. 6.75" x 5.375" x .5."

The album's dedicatory description refers to a "remembrancer," that is, a person responsible for reminding others of something. The "V. Williams" of the inscription may refer to Virgil Macey Williams (1830-1886), a Maine-born landscape and genre painter who co-founded the San Francisco Art Association in 1872, and directed the San Francisco School of Design from 1874 until his death. The identity of C. Vellimilo is unknown.

The period in which this album was produced, 1866, is significant from a historical point of view. Commodore Matthew Perry and the U.S. Navy had forced the opening of Japan to trade in 1853. Within two years, a direct shipping line between Japan and San Francisco was established, and it was presumably through transportation means like this that V. Williams and C. Vellimilo may have visited Japan in person if they actually did. In 1860, Japan dispatched its first diplomatic envoys to Washington, D.C., marking the beginning of official relations between the two countries. In 1866, Japanese students sponsored by the Reformed Church in America chapter in Kanagawa visited the United States. Japanese society and politics would further shift in 1868, with the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration.

The woodblock prints in this album depict charming scenes of Japanese men, women, and children engaged in daily activities like working, walking, socializing, eating, and even hairdressing and barbering. Though simple in design, the woodblock prints depict Japanese clothing, decorative arts, architecture, foodways, and other customs in remarkably expressive detail.

In addition to the dedicatory page described above, the 13 inscribed pages include, with original spelling:

- "musical girls," showing two female itinerant lute players

- "Rain coat," showing an attendant wearing a traditional straw or bark covering with a peaked straw hat

- "market man," showing a merchant or fisherman with a double-basket yoke

- "Game," showing three men bent over a board game, possibly shogi

- "girls or Women at Chabachaba," showing four women surrounding a low table, possible referring to a tea ceremony

- "Yacomins Head man + followers," showing an entourage of samurai

- "Japanese Town," showing townspeople milling about thatched buildings labeled with fabric banners

- "Banjoe player," showing a woman playing a shamisen, or 3-string lute

- "Yokonin," showing a Japanese archer

- "The man who cut the plates for this Book," showing a woodblock printmaker

- "Alosme or single girl," showing a standing woman in profile

- "Kange or chair," showing a passenger carried in a kago, or traveling sedan chair

We are proud to include items consigned by the Manuscript Society in this auction. These items come from the estate of well-known manuscript dealers Forest G. & Forest H. Sweet and Julia Sweet Newman. Forest G. Sweet was an early leader of the Manuscript Society as well as a rare book scholar. The proceeds from your purchase of these items will benefit the work of the Manuscript Society. You can learn more about them, and become a member of the Manuscript Society, at www.manuscript.org.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 6.75" x 5.375" x .5"
  • Medium: Artwork

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March 12, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
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