Japan in early photographs

Grégoire Mayor / Akiyoshi Tani (eds)

Japan in Early Photographs The Aimé Humbert Collection at the Museum of Ethnography, Neuchâtel

MEN arnoldsche ART PUBLISHERS

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Contents

Marc-Olivier Gonseth 1 Foreword 6

Grégoire Mayor and Akiyoshi Tani 2 Lost in Representation?

Photographs in the Humbert Collection.

A new awareness of Japan 9

Note to the reader 13 Grégoire Mayor 3 ‘The most sophisticated processes in Western art’. The Role of Photography in Aimé Humbert’s Mission 15

Akiyoshi Tani 4 An Investigation into the Aimé Humbert ­Collection Using Photo-Historical Research 31 5 Spring and Summer 1863 51 6 ‘He took with him an excellent photographer, Beato, from whom I would have the entire collection’ 61

Discovering a closed world 62

The raise of the touristic gaze: the excursion to Kamakura 108

The views of Yokohama 116

Akiyoshi Tani 7 Hidden Meanings in the Humbert Collection of Edo Photography 141

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8 Seven Reproductions in the Collection 159

9 The Long Quest for Documentation 169 Pictures by Felice Beato 170

Wirgman’s reproductions by Beato 222

Pictures by Shimooka Renjō 227

Images with uncertain paternity 250

An enigma. The Amélie Colomb annotated pictures 262

Philippe Dallais 10 Some Uses of Photography as a Source for the Engravings in Le Tour du monde and Le Japon illustré 269

Appendices Appendix A: The contents of a letter by Aimé Humbert compared with the album of Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek 282 Comparison charts with other albums 283 Appendix B: Author’s biographies 284 Appendix C: Missing photographs according to Humbert’s list of parcels from October 1863 285 Appendix D: Bibliography 287

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1 Foreword

The work to which I have the honour of writing a foreword is published as a part of research projects undertaken by the Museum of Ethnography in Neuchâtel (MEN) in preparation for the exhibition entitled Imagine Japan.

Opening on 19 June 2014 after a first stage devoted on 6 February to commemorating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the first Treaty of Amity and Commerce concluded between Switzerland and Japan, the above-­ mentioned exhibition closed on 26 April 2015. It focused on the context of the Swiss diplomatic mission led by Aimé Humbert, the collection of photographs he had amassed and the work he did for the publication of his book Le Japon illustré (Illustrated Japan). In doing so the exhibition analysed some of the semantic shifts produced by the Paris draughtsmen and engravers to whom Humbert entrusted the illustration of his work in recreating an orientalising fantasy realm. Published in March 2015 Imagine Japan provides both a reflection on and an extension of that process of organising and presenting the exhibition (Gonseth et al. 2015).

The wish to be guided by the 150th anniversary of the signing of the treaty mediated by Aimé Humbert through the journey of pictures brought back by the diplomat in 1864 and given to the MEN in 1950 by Professor Paul Humbert was first expressed in 2008, during a meeting in which Philippe Dallais, Grégoire Mayor and the author of these lines took part. All very ambitious, not to say utopian, the minutes of that meeting, the wishes shared that day, evoke the quasi totality of a construction site which has continued to develop up to the publication of the present work, namely in-depth research in the archives and in our collections, international academic collaboration, the creation of a sponsorship committee and organising a commemorative ceremony as well as

the launch of an exhibition and two books. The only unexpected yet pleasant consequence, one we could not have imagined at the time, was the visit on 19 June 2014, a few hours before the Imagine Japan exhibition opened, of Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan and Didier Burkhalter, President of the Swiss Confederation, with Christiane Lozeron, a direct descendant of Aimé Humbert.

To realise that ambitious project, apart from firm ties and follow-ups established with the Japanese embassy in Switzerland, thanks to the kind support of Maeda Ryuhei, Japanese ambassador to Switzerland, who has accompan­ ied us in all stages of our undertaking, we are endowed with staunch allies, to whom I should at this juncture like to express my thanks, both under the auspices of political sponsorships at local, cantonal and national levels and through links maintained with colleagues at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo, the Far Eastern section of the Art History Department at Zurich University and the Historical Institute at the University of Neuchâtel, with whom productive collaboration began in 2011. MEMORIAV has, moreover, made it possible for the photography collection to be completely restored and inventoried by the Swiss Institute for the Conservation of Photographs at Neuchâtel (ISCP), headed by Chris­ tophe Brandt. Digitalisation, inventorying, documentation and the astute handling of public relations were necessary to prepare us for showing the outstanding collection which has been entrusted to the MEN in the light it deserves.

This book is a logical accompaniment to our work of analysis and valorisation in that it presents to photog­ raphy lovers for the first time prints kept in the Aimé ­Humbert Collection at the Museum of Ethnography and that are linked to his book Le Japon illustré. Edited by

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1 Foreword

Grégoire Mayor and Akiyoshi Tani, with the collaboration of Philippe Dallais on identifying the photographs and the notes on the pictures as well as compiling the bibliography, this publication goes in depth into the history of photography, the establishment of a collection and the development of European perceptions of Japan.

Sharing in the process new discoveries concerning not only Felice Beato but also Shimooka ­Renjō and Jämes Favre-Brandt, the researchers’ work has decisively benefited from a major technical innovation, the infrared technology used by our collaborators, the team at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo.

This publication would not have been possible without the financial support of the Société des Amis du Musée d’ethnographie (SAMEN: Society of Friends of the Museum of Ethnography), the Loterie Romande, the Grünbaum Foundation MEMORIAV, Dallais SA and ­Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. I also attach the utmost importance to personally thanking Anne Zwah­len, president of SAMEN, who has been so actively involved in the process of seeing this project to a successful conclusion as well as Dirk Allgaier, publisher, and the editors at Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Wendy Brouwer, Marion Boschka and Greta Garle, for their enthusiasm and unwavering support.

Marc-Olivier Gonseth Director Museum of Ethnography, Neuchâtel

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2 Lost in Representation?

Photographs in the Humbert Collection.

A new awareness of Japan Grégoire Mayor and Akiyoshi Tani

Photographs taken in Japan between the late Edo period and early Meiji period that found their way overseas played a major role in forming Westerners’ impressions of Japan at that time. As the widespread reproduction of photos in books was not possible before the 1870s, they were mainly used as sources for engravings in publications about this new and exotic country aimed at Europeans. Among various illustrated books, Le Japon illustré, written by the Swiss politician, diplomat and educator Aimé Humbert (1819–1900), is today still one of the most famous works about the transition between the Edo and Meiji eras. Published by Hachette in Paris in 1870 – after a prepublication of various chapters between 1866 and 1869 in the popular travel review Le Tour du monde (Around the world) – the two volumes were soon edited in different versions, including adaptations in Russian (1870), English (Taylor 1872) and Spanish (1875). Some articles from Le Tour du monde were even translated during the prepublication process – for example, in Danish (1867) – and engravings were circulated in other reviews or books. Moreover, a chapter also found unexpected literary success in Jules Verne’s famous book Le Tour du monde en 80 jours (Around the World in 80 Days), where the description of Japan seemed to be strongly inspired by the Swiss author and by the images from Neuville and Bayar (Butcher 2009, p. 43; Suzuki 2002; Tomita 1984).

Since 1950 the Museum of Ethnography in Neuchâtel (MEN) has held a remarkable iconographic collection of 2,634 documents about Japan. These images were mostly gathered between 1863 and 1864 by Aimé Humbert, who was in charge of the ratification of the first Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and Switzerland and who used them later for Le Japon illustré. The main part of this collection comprises engravings, water-

colours, drawings and paintings. Aimé Humbert removed the bindings of the many illustrated books he had bought and organised the individual pictures according to the classification needs of his own project, regardless of the original context (Fujiwara 2015). Most of the images were annotated and pasted onto cardboard, with Roman numerals indicating the chapters of the book, suggesting that this was likely done during the editing process or just after publication.

After being handed over after publication to François Turrettini (1845–1908), who had founded a printing house of Chinese and Japanese classic books in Geneva, the documents were presented in September 1894 to the 10th International Orientalist Congress in Geneva (Dallais 2006, p. 73). The various portfolios were then considered by Swiss scholars and journalists as one of the major collections of Japanese prints of the time, even though the documentary intention of Aimé Humbert had already been underlined. In fact, the images were not initially collected for their artistic value but rather as a way of gaining knowledge about a strange and new place (Claparède 1895, p. 23; Seippel 1894). After the death of Turrettini, the archive reappeared in two auctions in the first half of the twentieth century, in Paris in 1914 and in Marseilles in 1932. When Paul Humbert, professor of theology at the University of Neuchâtel, gave them to the Museum of Ethnography, a third of the original documents were missing (Musée neuchâtelois 1933, p. 79; Dallais 2006, pp. 73–76). Although the collection contains more engravings than photographs, the latter were significantly exploited by the Parisian draughtsmen and wood engravers who between 1866 and 1869, under the instructions of Aimé Humbert, produced the 487 prints which illustrated his book.

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1–4 Left: The engraving published in Le Tour du monde, 1867, 15 (1), p. 302, and in Le Japon illustré, vol. 1, ill. 193, p. 305.

Right: A picture by Felice Beato of the Dutch legation with drawings and annotation by Aimé Humbert (MEN P.1950.1.43).

Two pictures of the Japanese guards of the Swiss legation by Jämes Favre-Brandt (MEN P.1950.1.57, 62).

Humbert’s collection includes 141 photographs, not sorted in an album format but pasted onto cards as individual photographs: among them, 139 are directly connected to the publication of his book and, with the exception of a sculpture of Confucius in China, were taken in Japan before 1870. The majority of the photos were produced by the famous Italian-born British photographer Felice Beato (1832–1909), whose name is mentioned by Humbert in the captions of the engravings and in passages of the book, and by Shimooka Renjō (1823–1914), one of the first Japanese photographers active in Yokohama.

However, many of the pictures were hitherto unknown, particularly those taken by a member of the Swiss delegation, Jämes Favre-­Brandt (1841–1923). In many cases, the illustrations for Humbert’s articles in Le Tour du monde and Le Japon illustré are reworked versions of the photographs and pictures that he had organised in his own unique way, with artists taking a combination of these and using a mixture of multiple photographs and

illustrations to create a single image (Gonseth et al.

2015). To this end, additional information was sometimes added and some pictures were combined. For example, a Swiss flag was added to the print of the Chōōji Temple in Edo, taken by Felice Beato, where the treaty between Japan and Switzerland was signed, and different photographs of the guards of the Swiss delegation taken in spring 1863 by Favre-Brant entered the composition of the published illustration (Tani 2012a) (Figs 1–4).

This publication presents for the first time all the photographs of the collection kept today in the MEN that are linked with the production of Humbert’s narrative about Japan. Drawing on reliable primary text sources and investigations into the photographs, it examines some of the origins and lines of transmission of the collection assembled in the mid 1860s by Humbert. The travel journals of the Swiss diplomat and his secretary, Caspar Brennwald, provide much first-hand information about photographic practices in Yokohama and Edo at

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2 Lost in Representation?

5 A handwritten note on the original print to indicate the guard house.

this time but also about the role of photography in Humbert’s intellectual project as well as those of the other travellers. They also helped to assign more precise dating to many pictures, along with some factual information and interpretations given by the man who collected them. The following book is an attempt to relate as precisely as possible the chronological order of the pictures’ compilation by Humbert. The catalogue is structured in such a way as to let the reader discover the photographs that were acquired by Humbert based on his travel journal and letters to his relatives and to the Swiss authorities. Relying on quotations from his diary and letters, the first part presents the images that were certainly collected during Humbert’s stay in Japan: primarily the pictures taken by Jämes Favre-Brandt, member of the Swiss delegation and amateur photographer, but also some images from Shimooka Renjō, who was active in Yokohama from 1862, and photographs from Edo and Yokohama taken by Felice Beato in 1863, as well as some reproductions of

Charles Wirgman’s drawings. The second part of the book presents the pictures that are to have been bought

by Humbert after his return to Switzerland. In two letters, addressed to the Dutch consul Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek and to the Swiss merchant François Perregaux, he commissioned pictures from Felice Beato and from an unnamed ‘Japanese photographer’, who has been identified today as Shimooka Renjō. Another set of images consists of reproductions of pictures by Beato. Attached to boards with what appear to be canvas tacks and rephotographed by an amateur photographer in a smaller format, the original images were most probably the ones that are in an album today held by the Swiss Federal Arch­ ives in Bern. Inspecting the lists of illustrations of the two volumes of Le Japon illustré, where Humbert indicated the sources of the engravings, allowed the easy identification of most of the photographs that were used for the project. However, in some complex engravings, comprising many figures, closer research was necessary. This 11

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5 Spring and Summer 1863

Preparing his trip to Japan, Aimé Humbert thought to hire a photographer with the Swiss mission. Jämes Favre-Brandt, a young watchmaker and amateur photographer, played this role for a while. But after some trial runs, Favre-Brandt probably stopped his activity during the summer of 1863, occupied by his trade and the problems he received with the Japanese customs on importing goods.

At the end of June, Humbert and Favre-Brandt visited the studio of a ­Japanese photographer in Yokohama. The former didn’t mention the name of the artist, calling him simply ‘the Japanese photographer’. However, Shimooka Renjō was then the only active local photographer at this time in the area, and Humbert bought at least three photos from him.

Some of the first photographs probably acquired by Humbert appear to be early prints from an unknown photographer linked with Renjō. There is no precise mention of them in the archives, but they would have been acquired at the beginning of his stay in Japan, as he still wrote on the reverse ‘Yoko-Hama’, in two words, which he stopped in his travel journal and letters after July 1863.

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MEN P.1950.1.57

Jämes Favre-Brandt, Chef de la garde de la Légation Suisse (Chief of the Swiss legation’s guard); IR: Yeddo. Le Chef de notre garde (The chief of our guard) [Humbert]. 30 May 1863, 11.1 × 8.9 cm.

La garde de la Légation suisse, à Yédo. Dessin de A. de Neuville d'après des photographies (The guard of the Swiss legation in Yedo. Drawing by A. de Neuville after photographs). LTDM 1867, 15 (1), p. 303; AH1870, vol. 1, ill. 192, p. 305.

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5 Spring and Summer 1863 MEN P.1950.1.62

Jämes Favre-Brandt, Groupe de Yakounines de la Garde Suisse (Group of yakunins of the Swiss guard). 30 May 1863, 9.8 × 12.7 cm.

Our yakunins have already become firm friends. I gave them pictures of Swiss costumes, while Favre began to photograph them. We attached a black mirror to one of the pillars of the garden porch. Schnell spends the day surrounded by people asking him about Switzerland and about us. Kaiser explains the workings of the Swiss rifle and fencing with our cavalry sabre.

Aimé Humbert’s Travel Diary, Saturday, 30 May 1863. AEN, fonds Humbert, volume 6, folio 211.

Nos yacounines sont déjà devenus nos grands amis.

Je leur ai fait distribuer des images des costumes suisses. M. Favre a commencé sur leurs personnes des essais de photographies. Nous avons pendu le miroir noir à un pilier de la galerie du jardin. Schnell est toute la journée entouré de gens qui lui demandent des ­renseignements sur la Suisse et sur nous. Kaiser explique la carabine suisse, et l’escrime avec notre sabre de cavalerie.

Journal de voyage d’Aimé Humbert. Samedi, 30 mai 1863. AEN, fonds Humbert, volume 6, folio 211.

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MEN P.1950.1.83

Shimooka Renjō, Dévideuse (Spinner); pencil inscription by Humbert on the verso of this print in carte de visite format: ¼; Fileuse de coton; atelier photographique japonais de Yoko-Hama (¼; cotton spinner; Japanese photographic studio of Yoko-Hama). Before 29 June 1863, 9.1 × 6.1 cm.

Afternoon. I’m going with Mr. Metman and Mr. Favre to visit the studio of a Japanese photographer. It’s a funny installation, but he has a good machine and didn’t work too badly; as a specimen of what he is able to do, I bought him two or three subjects in carte de visite size. He was going to photograph a yakunin, with, on its side on the bench, an object which he seems to be

very proud of: it was a horn-like music box, playing two tunes, a product of the Sainte-Croix manufactory.

Aimé Humbert’s Travel Diary. Benten, Monday, 29 June 1863, sheet 52.

AEN, fonds Humbert, volume 6, folio 352.

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5 Spring and Summer 1863 MEN P.1950.1.121

Unknown photographer (probably Shimooka Renjō). Ca. 1862, 8.4 × 5.6 cm.

As this print is mounted on a Western-style playing card, like the previous one and following one, it leads us to believe that they were probably acquired together. (GM)

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MEN P.1950.1.88

Felice Beato, Jardin bourgeois (Bourgeois garden). August 1863, 22.3 × 27.3 cm.

The same photo is on page 38 of the second Polsbroek album. In the Douglas album the caption is Yakunin’s garden Yedo. (AT)

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6 ‘He took with him an excellent photo­grapher’ MEN P.1950.1.89

Felice Beato, Jardin bourgeois (Bourgeois garden); IR: Garden [Beato].

August 1863, 22.6 × 28.7 cm.

On page 31 of the second Polsbroek album, this picture was titled Garden Yedo [Beato] and in the Douglas album Japanese garden Yedo. (AT) It was used with MEN 1950.1.88 to create one single engraving: Jardin bourgeois à Yédo. Dessin de Lancelot d’après une photographie (Bourgeois garden in Yedo. Drawing by Lancelot after a photograph). LTDM 1868, 18 (2), p. 85; AH1870, vol. 2, ill. 65, p. 113.

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Afterwards [the American General Pruyn] led us to the top of the hill by the grand staircase, and there we saw the main temple, still standing, with monks grouped below the portal and to the right vast plots of ground covered in ruins and debris of all kind. Traces of the fire which burnt the legation to the ground.

[Le général américain Pruyn] nous conduisit ensuite au sommet de la colline par le grand escalier, et là nous vîmes le temple principal debout, les bonzes groupés sous le portail, et à droite vers les vastes emplacements couverts de ruines et de débris de tout genre. Restes de l‘incendie qui a rasé la Légation au niveau du sol.

Aimé Humbert’s Travel Diary. 29 May 1863. AEN, fonds Aimé Humbert, volume 6, folio 210.

Journal de voyage d‘Aimé Humbert. 29 mai 1863. AEN, fonds Humbert, volume 6, folio 210.

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6 ‘He took with him an excellent photo­grapher’ MEN P.1950.1.48

Felice Beato, Partie incendiée de la Légation Américaine (Burnt area of the American legation); IR: American Legation at Yedo after the fire, IV–19 [Beato].

August 1863, 22.8 × 28.6 cm.

This view, looking south-east from near the northern side of the main temple building towards the central gate of the American legation (Zenpuku-ji Temple), as in the case of MEN P.1950.1.47, was taken on an early summer’s morning, shown by the fact that the shadows extend in a west-south-westerly direction and that the shadow over the open main gate built facing east-south-east extends at an angle of around 50 degrees. In May 1863 a fire occurred at the American legation. Humbert visited it on 29 May. (AT) The image was used for the engraving called Légation américaine à Yédo ­(partie incendiée). Dessin de Thérond d’après une photographie (American legation at Yedo [burnt area]. Drawing by Thérond after a photograph).

LTDM 1867, 15 (1), p. 307; AH1870, vol. 1, ill. 193, p. 309.

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MEN P.1950.1.74

Felice Beato, Barbiers japonais (Japanese barbers); IR: Japanese Barber 109 [Beato]. 1863–1865, 17.4 × 14.7 cm.

Barbiers japonais. Dessin de Feyen-Perrin d’après une photographie (Japanese barbers. Drawing by Feyen-Perrin after a photograph). LTDM 1867, 16 (2), p. 375; AH1870, vol. 2, ill. 3, p. 9.

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9 The Long Quest for Documentation MEN P.1950.1.73

Felice Beato, Barbiers japonais (Japanese barbers). 1863, 8.6 × 5.3 cm.

This carte de visite format print belongs perhaps to a small series of pictures taken by Beato at the same place in the Chōōji Temple. It was identified by comparing it to the photographs in the first Polsbroek album. (PhD) It was probably taken in August 1863 with MEN P.1950.1.38. (GM)

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MEN P.1950.1.6

Unknown photographer (probably Shimooka Renjō), Paysage (Landscape); IR: Mlle Amélie Colomb [unidentified writing]. Ca. 1862, 14.4 × 17.5 cm.

The shrine in the far right of Fig. 11 in Chapter 4 (p. 44), which was taken from almost the same position as in MEN P.1950.1.6, can also be seen in the Shimooka Renjō photo collection in the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum. Later (around 1865–1866) Shimooka Renjō’s disciple Yokoyama Matusaburō, who visited Shimooka Renjō, who was returning to Shimoda for his wife’s health treatment, photographed almost the same place as shown in MEN P.1950.1.6. The small shrine in the mountain visible in MEN P.1950.1.6 had already disappeared when Yokoyama took the shot (private collection). (AT)

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9 The Long Quest for Documentation MEN P.1950.1.101

Unknown photographer (probably Shimooka Renjō); IR: Mlle Amélie Colomb [unidentified writing]. 1865–early 1866, 13.9 × 18.3 cm.

Yokohama. The precise identification is unknown, but it is possibly the canal at the back of the Gankiro district. (PhD) The image was probably taken on the other side of the bridge of a picture taken by Beato which is in the Douglas album and the Polsbroek album (s3628 (03), p. 13). In the 27th Yamate District, at the back right, the Japanese-style official residence of the American ambassador is visible. (AT)

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MEN P.1950.1.115

Felice Beato. 1863–1865, 25.2 × 20.4 cm, MEN P.1950.1.115.

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10 Photography as a Source for Engravings

Officier du gouvernement du Taïkoun en tenue de ville. Dessin de A. de Neuville d’après une photographie (Officer of the Taikun’s government in business attire. Drawing by A. de Neuville after a photograph). LTDM 1866, 14 (2), p. 78; AH1870, vol. 1, ill. 209, p. 338.

Jour de l’an: salutations en rue; cartes de visite. Dessin de L. Crépon, d’après des esquisses japonaises (New Year: greetings in the street; cartes de visite.

Drawing by L. Crépon after Japanese sketches). LTDM 1869, 20 (2), p. 207; AH1870, vol. 2, ill. 181, p. 327.

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