Russians (A Russian Couple Holding Hands)

Currently not on view

Russians (A Russian Couple Holding Hands)

1861

Probably engraved by Utagawa Kunihisa II (Japanese, 1832–1891) Published by Tsujioka Bunsuke, Kinshōdō

This composition is from a series of five images, each representing one of the five nations that signed commercial treaties with Japan in 1858. The background of each print in the series includes a glossary (written in Japanese characters) of foreign words relating to the nationality represented in the picture, with accompanying transliterations to the closest equivalent Japanese pronunciation. Glossaries of this type represent the first Japanese effort, in a popular medium, to contend with the newly introduced European languages.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Titles:

Russians (A Russian Couple Holding Hands)
From Among the Five Nations

Date:

1861

Artists:

Probably engraved by Utagawa Kunihisa II (Japanese, 1832–1891) Published by Tsujioka Bunsuke, Kinshōdō

Medium:

Color woodcut

Dimensions:

Sheet (Ōban tate-e): 14 1/4 × 9 3/4 inches (36.2 × 24.8 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

Purchased with the Lola Downin Peck Fund and with funds contributed by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Hauslohner, Dr. Emanuel Wolff, the Derald and Janet Ruttenberg Foundation, Mrs. Edward G. Budd, Jr., and David P. Willis, 1968

Accession Number:

1968-165-5

Geography:

Made in Japan, Asia

Context:

Period: Edo Period (1615-1868)

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Currently not on view