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「銀婚式大典各大臣列席之圖」
Celebration of the Silver Wedding Anniversary with Ministers of State Present (Ginkonshiki taiten kaku daijin resseki no zu)
「銀婚式大典各大臣列席之圖」
Japanese
Meiji era
1894 (Meiji 27), February
Medium/Technique
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Dimensions
Vertical ôban triptych; 36.7 x 72.9 cm (14 7/16 x 28 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection
Accession Number2000.520a-c
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPrints
At what appears to be an informal reception, the Meiji Emperor and Empress mingle with the ministers of state and their wives, while fireworks are set off in the garden. Ladies at the court had begun to wear Western fashions in the late 1880s for some occasions such as this one, although they also continued to wear Japanese clothing at other times. One of their motivations: to promote the sale of Japanese silk in Western countries by showing what beautiful Western-style clothes could be made from it.
Catalogue Raisonné
Sharf, Imaging Meiji (1997), #34, photo p. 31; Konishi, Nishiki-e Bakumatsu Meiji no rekishi 11 (1977), p. 16
Signed
......Kuniteru ga
Marks
Seal: Okada
ProvenancePreviously owned by various dealers: primarily in London and Tokyo. Purchased between 1985-1999.