Book of Textile Samples, The seventh month of Bunka 11(1814) (detail), China, India, and Europe, Edo period, dated 1814 (Gift of Mr. Matsunaga Yasuzaemon)
Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 5
April 10, 2018 (Tue) - July 1, 2018 (Sun)
Large numbers of textiles were shipped to Japan from China and the Netherlands during the Edo period (1603?1868). When a ship arrived at the island of Dejima in Nagasaki, one of the few places in Japan where foreign traders were allowed, an official appraiser would cut a small sample from every textile, attach it to a page in his notebook, and provide it with a label. In this exhibit we will introduce fragments of cotton and silk textiles produced in Qing-dynasty China (1644?1912) that are now preserved in one of these notebooks, the Book of Textile Samples.
Current exhibit includes:
Book of Textile Samples, The seventh month of Bunka 11(1814), China, India, and Europe, Edo period, dated 1814 (Gift of Mr. Matsunaga Yasuzaemon)
Book of Textile Samples, The eighth month of Bunsei 11 (1828), China, India, and Europe, Edo period, dated 1828 (Gift of Mr. Matsunaga Yasuzaemon)