The East India Company, founded in London in 1600, was the world's biggest trading organization until the twentieth century. It was originally a spice trading organization, and its existence was precarious in its early years. But its governors soon began to think bigger. A decade after itsfoundation, they started to plan voyages to more fabulous places, notably Japan. Japan had silver, was cold in winter, and had no sheep, so was a perfect market for England's main export, woollen cloth. The Company planned to add to its spice-runs, sailing back and forth to Japan, exchanging woolfor silver. This could be done quickly and easily, over the top of Russia - or so the maps of the day suggested (these same maps also showed Japan twenty times too large, about the size of India).Knowing the Spanish and Portuguese had got there before them, the Company prepared a special present to impress and win over their Japanese hosts. They chose as their first gift a silver telescope. The expedition carrying the telescope departed in 1611, and the Shogun was finally presented with thetelescope in the name of King James I in 1613. It was the first telescope ever to leave Europe, and the first made as a presentation item. Before this voyage had even returned, the Company had dispatched another with an equally stunning cargo: nearly a hundred oil paintings.This is the story of these two extraordinary cargoes: what they meant for the fortunes of the Company, what the choice of them says about the seventeenth century England from which they came, and what effect they had on the quizzical Asian rulers to whom they were given.

The Shogun's Silver Telescope: God, Art, and Money in the English Quest for Japan, 1600-1625

Arts & Photography

Screech, Timon

History & Criticism

Oxford University Press

This is the first study to consider the introduction of Western technology in the eighteenth century, when, it has been assumed, Japan continued to isolate itself from external influence. Timon Screech demonstrates that the introduction of such Western equipment as lenses, mirrors, and glass had a profound impact on Japanese notions regarding the faculty of sight. The enormity of this paradigm shift was, moreover, felt less in Japanese scientific inquiry than in art and popular culture, where the devices were often depicted and used metaphorically, as commentary on the prevailing social norms. Based on archival sources, here published for the first time, this study also sheds new light on Japanese art and its relation to the West; the relationship of science to art and popular culture; and the autonomy and internationalisation of Japanese culture.

The Western Scientific Gaze and Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan: The Lens within the Heart (Cambridge Studies in New Art History and Criticism)

Cambridge University Press

Presenting a revised edition with a new preface of this important work, previously available only in hardback. It has long been assumed that Japan's closed country policy meant that Japan was isolated from the influence of the outside, and in particular the Western, world. However, this study of 18th century Japan, using sources wholly unstudied since their writing, reveals the profound influence that the introduction of Western technology and scientific instruments including glass, lenses and mirrors had on Japanese notions of sight, and how this change in perception was reflected most clearly in popular culture. Screech goes to the core of later eighteenth century thought through popular objects and the propositions which many considered groundbreaking on the book's first publication in 1996 have yet to be substantially challenged.

The Lens Within the Heart: The Western Scientific Gaze and Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan

Reference

Routledge

The art of ukiyo-e (the floating world) originated in the city of Edo (1603–1867, now Tokyo), when the political and military power of Japan was in the hands of the shoguns. Comprising six essays, six plate sections and over 600 illustrations this beautiful book provides a perfect introduction to the art of this period. The paintings, scrolls and prints reproduced here demonstrate not only the new urban pleasures of the theatre, restaurants, teahouses and geisha, but also Japan’s love of nature and tradition. Professor Calza’s accessible style provides a fascinating yet scholarly study of such masters as Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro.

Ukiyo-E

Calza, Gian Carlo

Muto, Junko

Mondadori Electa SpA

Phaidon Press

The art of ukiyo-e (the floating world) originated in the city of Edo (1603-1867, now Tokyo), when the political and military power of Japan was in the hands of the shoguns. Comprising six essays, six plate sections and over 600 illustrations this beautiful book provides a perfect introduction to the art of this period. The paintings, scrolls and prints reproduced here demonstrate not only the new urban pleasures of the theatre, restaurants, teahouses and geisha, but also Japan's love of nature and tradition. Professor Calza's accessible style provides a fascinating yet scholarly study of such masters as Hokusai, Hiroshige and Utamaro.

Sex and the Floating World: Erotic Images in Japan, 1700-1820

Sex and the Floating World offers an entirely new assessment of the genre of Japanese paintings and prints known as shunga. Recent changes in Japanese law have at last enabled erotic images to be published without fear of prosecution, and many picture-books have since appeared in Japan. There has, however, been very little attempt to situate shunga imagery within the contexts of sexuality, gender, or the politics of power. Questions of aesthetics, and of whether shunga deserves a place in the canon of Japanese art history, have dominated, and the issue of how such images were used has been avoided. Timon Screech seeks to re-establish shunga in its proper historical contexts of culture and creativity. Shunga prints are unusual in that they are overtly about sex. Once we begin to examine them first and foremost as sexual aids, we must be prepared for some shocks. In Sex and the Floating World, the author takes us into the strange world of sexual fantasy in Edo-period Japan, investigating the tensions in class and gender experienced by those who made - and made use of - shunga.

Univ of Hawaii Pr

Sex and the Floating World offers and entirely new assessment of the genre of Japanese paintings and prints known as shunga. Shunga prints are unusual in that they are overtly about sex. The author takes us into the strange world of sexual fantasy in Edo-period Japan, investigating the tensions in class and gender experienced by those who made - and made use of - shunga.

This study of eighteenth century Japan, using sources wholly unstudied since their writing, reveals the profound influence that the introduction of Western technology and scientific instruments (including glass, lenses, and mirrors) had on Japanese notions of sight, and how this change in perception was reflected clearly in popular culture.

University of Hawaii Press

The Edo period (1603–1868) witnessed one of the great flowerings of Japanese art. Towards the mid-seventeenth century, the Japanese states were largely at peace, and rapid urbanization, a rise in literacy and an increase in international contact ensued. The number of those able to purchase luxury goods, or who felt their social position necessitated owning them, soared. Painters and artists ﬂourished and the late seventeenth century also saw a rise in the importance of printmaking. There were dominant styles and trends throughout Japan, but also those peculiar to specifc regions, such as the Kanto (Edo) and the Kamigata (Osaka and Kyoto) and, more remotely, Nagasaki.
Obtaining Images introduces the reader to important artists and their work, but also to the intellectual issues and concepts surrounding the production, consumption and display of art in Japan in the Edo period. Rather than looking at these through the lens of European art, the book contextualizes the making and use of paintingsand prints, elucidating how and why works were commissioned, where they were displayed and what special properties were attributed to them.
Different imperatives are at work in the art of diﬀerent traditions, and Obtaining Images firmly anchors the art of Japan of this period in its contemporary context, offering a highly engaging and comprehensive introduction for the student and general reader alike.

Obtaining Images: Art, Production, and Display in Edo Japan

The Edo period (1603–1868) in Japan is famous as a time of relative peace and prosperity, a time of rapid urbanization that coincided with a rise in literacy as well as international contact, and—especially—a tremendous flourishing of art. Obtaining Images introduces readers to important artists of this time and the beautiful works that they produced. With historical depth, Timon Screech places these artists within the intellectual milieu of the Edo period, contextualizing their work within the contemporary issues and concepts that surrounded the production, consumption, and display of art during one of Japan’s most culturally robust eras. Rather than looking at Edo art through a European lens—as many books have already done—this book seeks to understand the making and use of paintings and prints according to Japan’s own cultural and economic forces, elucidating how and why works were commissioned, where they were displayed, and what special properties audiences and buyers attributed to them. Screech explores the complex network of different imperatives and motivations that negotiated different traditions and how these forces resulted in the variety of styles we’ve come to associate with the period. Firmly anchoring the art of Japan within wider Japanese culture, he provides a comprehensive introduction that offers fresh insights for students and general readers alike.

Obtaining Images: Art, Production and Display in Edo Japan

Reaktion Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Screech, Timon. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Screech, Timon

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Screech, Timon. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Shogun's Silver Telescope: God, Art, and Money in the English Quest for Japan, 1600-1625

The Western Scientific Gaze and Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan: The Lens within the Heart (Cambridge Studies in New Art History and Criticism)

The Lens Within the Heart: The Western Scientific Gaze and Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan

Ukiyo-E

Ukiyo-E

Sex and the Floating World: Erotic Images in Japan, 1700-1820

Sex and the Floating World: Erotic Images in Japan, 1700-1820

The Lens Within the Heart: The Western Scientific Gaze and Popular Imagery in Later Edo Japan

Obtaining Images: Art, Production, and Display in Edo Japan

Obtaining Images: Art, Production and Display in Edo Japan