Artwork preview

Illustration of a Large French Port Trading with Many Nations (Furansukoku oominato shokoku kōeki zu)

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The image depicts a triptych print. The top portion shows a blue sky with white clouds over a body of water with several large ships. The largest ship in the center panel is white with three masts and billowing sails. In the background, there are more ships on the water and a mountainous coastline on the right side. The bottom portion shows a group of people dressed in 19th-century clothing standing on a grassy shore. The people wear Western-style dresses and suits with long skirts and top hats. Some people stand, while others sit on the ground. On the left side, a dock extends into the water with more people standing on it. The overall scene appears to be a trading port with people from different cultures interacting. The color palette includes shades of blue, green, red, orange, and yellow. There are Japanese characters written in black ink on a red and gold oval shape in the top-right corner and on a vertical red banner on the left side. The characters are also written in black ink on a small yellow rectangle on the bottom-left corner.

Artwork details

Date:
4th month, 1866
Medium:
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Culture:
Japan
Dimensions:
599 × 308 px
Museum record:
View original
Palette