Stillfried and Anderson. Album of photographs of Japan. circa 1880

JAPAN ̶ STILLFRIED AND ANDERSEN

Views and costumes of Japan. Yokohama: Stillfried and Andersen, [c.1880]

Oblong folio (305 x 365mm.), 49 albumen prints (average 220 x 275mm., or the reverse), comprising: title, 24 views, 23 fine hand-tinted costume studies, and a hand-tinted photograph of a boat, all mounted on card, recto and verso, some with pencil captions on the mounts in French, probably by Souhart (see provenance) including one with a pencil arrow and note "ma maison", contemporary dark red roan, patterned green cloth boards, occasional minor wear, dust-staining and spotting, binding slightly worn

A GOOD ALBUM OF VIEWS AND HAND-COLOURED COSTUME PORTRAITS, compiled by Fernand Arthur Souhart (1854-1937), French minister of Foreign Affairs, and president of the French-Japanese Society (see provenance). Stillfried & Andersen's studio, also known as the Japan Photographic Association, was founded by Baron Raimund von Stillfried and Hermann Andersen and operated in Yokohama between 1876 and 1885; it also produced prints from Felice Beato's negatives. The title photograph includes images of medals awarded at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia and the 1877 Vienna Exposition.

PROVENANCE:

Fernand Arthur Souhart (1854-1937), French minister of Foreign Affairs, whose postings included Yokohama (Japan), Tehran (Persia) and Beijing (China); Souhart was also president of the French-Japanese Society. A pencil inscription notes that this album was given to Souhart's daughter Odette in May 1889