'Japanese Commisioners'
Photograph
ca. 1858 (made)
ca. 1858 (made)
| Artist/Maker |
In a letter to his father, written in the period between March 1858 to May 1859, William Nassau Jocelyn wrote 'I sent you a photograph of the [Japanese Commissioners] by the way, as they appeared just after signing our Treaty. The man on the left with wings is Moriyama, our interpreter and a very nice fellow, only unfortunately he popped down rather suddenly and the poor man was rather out of health so that he did not sit quite still and that makes him look so old and wizen. The other six are our Commissioners- they are all in their riding dresses without wings, and made of silk and silver poplin and trousers large & wide of the same [material]. The Imperial Cypher you may observe on most of their dresses...' [Terry Bennett and Sebastian Dobson, 'The first British photographers in Japan: William Nassau Jocelyn and the Elgin Mission of 1858', The PhotoHistorian: Journal of the Historical Group of the Royal Photographic Society 120 (February 1998): 9.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | 'Japanese Commisioners' |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Photograph by William Nassau Jocelyn, 'Japanese Commisioners', c.1858. Bequeathed by Guy Little. |
| Physical description | Black and white photograph of a group of men. Four men are seated kneeling on the ground. A fifth man, indistinguishable because of the print quality, can also be seen. Behind the seated men, are three standing men. In the background, on the far left of the photograph is a standing man. They men all wear traditional Japanese dress of the period, and carry swords. The central seated figure holds a fan. The photograph is embossed with a stamp of the Jocelyn coat of arms, that consists of the text 'FAIRE MON DEVOIR' and an image of a falcon's leg. |
| Dimensions |
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| Content description | The photograph is believed to have been taken on 26 August 1858, on the day when the Treaty of Edo was signed. The photograph depicts the Japanese Commissioners. |
| Place depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | In a letter to his father, written in the period between March 1858 to May 1859, William Nassau Jocelyn wrote 'I sent you a photograph of the [Japanese Commissioners] by the way, as they appeared just after signing our Treaty. The man on the left with wings is Moriyama, our interpreter and a very nice fellow, only unfortunately he popped down rather suddenly and the poor man was rather out of health so that he did not sit quite still and that makes him look so old and wizen. The other six are our Commissioners- they are all in their riding dresses without wings, and made of silk and silver poplin and trousers large & wide of the same [material]. The Imperial Cypher you may observe on most of their dresses...' [Terry Bennett and Sebastian Dobson, 'The first British photographers in Japan: William Nassau Jocelyn and the Elgin Mission of 1858', The PhotoHistorian: Journal of the Historical Group of the Royal Photographic Society 120 (February 1998): 9. |
| Bibliographic reference | p. 176
The Origin of Photography: Great Britain. Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, 2019. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 3814:88/A-1953 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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