Japanese Lacquer Photo Album with Watercolor Vignettes on Borders, with Original Box

Descripción

N.d., circa late nineteenth century. 25 by 20 cm. With 24 hand-tinted and/or colored photographs, all embedded in very thick card leaves, which have gilt edges. The margin of each photo is embellished with traditional Japanese watercolors of flowers, trees, birds, including ducks, pheasants, cranes, fish, waves. The watercolors tend to be diagonally arranged, with the artwork predominantly occupying two kiddy corners. In some of the watercolors, the colors jump off the page with their brightness, and it is these that distinguish the use of watercolors from mere color printing. Overall, the watercolors are exquisite and set this album apart from most other albums of this ilk, plus this one comes with the original decorative box from K. Tamamura. (Kozaburo Tamamura (1856-1924) was a photographer based in Yokohama from 1883 on and an originator of "Yokohama Shashin", the kind of tourist photographs present in this album and reaching a peak of production in the 1890s. The photographs are mostly human studies, generally of Japanese archetypes: Geishas, samurai, a Sumi wrestler, probably a peasant family, Kabuki performers, store keepers. These photos include both individuals posing and group photos. There are only two less exciting photos of tourist sites -- a Buddha statue and of a mountainous river valley. Condition: box repaired, with lid reattached, and newer cloth on back of spine, not entirely matching the cushioned silk fabric elsewhere. Lacquer boards well-preserved, with minor corner rubbing, and a few tiny indistinct scratches and the like. Leather spine a bit chewed at the edges and by the joints but original and worth preserving, as is. Cards into which photos are placed are foxed, sometimes lightly, sometimes, verging on heavily. Lacquer, Calf Boards, Fabric covering box. N° de ref. del artículo 006663

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