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Tokio [Imperial Palace Tokyo]
von Stillfried-Ratenicz, Franz, 1881, Photograph
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of 439
Tokio [Imperial Palace Tokyo]
Tokio [Imperial Palace Tokyo]
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Category
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Item no
15153
Title
Tokio [Imperial Palace Tokyo]
Description
The Fujimi-Yagura watchtower stands in the south-eastern corner of the Imperial Palace fortification atop a high platform. The platform is constructed of dressed stone. The palace has three levels with bronze tiles on the roof. Trees surround the building.
Artist / maker
von Stillfried-Ratenicz, Franz
Date
1881
Size
19.5 x 24 cm
Type
Photograph
Location
Art and Design Library
The Fujimi-Yagura watchtower translates as 'Mt. Fuji viewing keep' and it is believed that it gets its name because once Mount Fuji could be seen from it. This tower is one of the only remaining keeps of the inner citadel of Edo Castle. After an important fire in 1657, it started being used as the main donjon. The three tier turret still stands today, although it was rebuilt in concrete in 1927 after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923.
This item is part of a collection of prints from the studio of Baron Franz von Stillfried-Ratenicz, an Austrian photographer practising in Japan in the late 1870's. Von Stillfried ran a studio in Yokohama at the same time as his brother Raimund, who was also known as 'Baron Stillfried'. This caused a great deal of confusion with the local residents and visitors to Japan in the Meiji Period, and with art historians today.
This album, which dates from 1879-83, comprises 67 separate mounted prints presented in a lacquerware box. Albums of this kind were popular among foreign tourists, who frequently selected the individual prints they wished to include from the studio's collection. Many of these albumen prints were hand tinted. This was a laborious process for which von Stillfried employed, at the height of his success, a substantial number of Japanese workers. This photograph was hand tinted with great care. The many details of the surrounding vegetation have been carefully highlighted with green paint. The original of this picture may have been taken by Felix Beato around 1870.
Exhibitions with this item
Views and Costumes of China & Japan
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Related subjects
Homes
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Residential buildings
>
Castles and palaces
Places
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Asia
>
Japan
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