Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, room 512M , Case MX9, Shelf X, Box 625

'Japanese Commisioners'

Photograph
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
  • Height of image height: 71mm (image)
  • Width: 121mm
  • Head to tail of album height: 320mm (closed album) (Note: Measurement of closed album photo is i)
  • Width of album photo is in width: 269mm (Closed album) (Note: Measured by BKC in measuring box)
  • Width of closed album depth: 41mm (Closed book) (Note: width of album photo is in)
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 createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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