The Yomeimon Gate, Toshogu Shrine, Nikko

Category

Library Item

Item no

15156

Title

The Yomeimon Gate, Toshogu Shrine, Nikko

Description

The rear of the Yomeimon Gate of Toshogu Shinto Shrine in Nikko, Japan. The upper part is covered with carvings of dragons and the lower part is decorated with Chinese lions. To the right and left of the passageway sit ama-inu (lion) and koma-inu (Korean dog).

Artist / maker

von Stillfried-Ratenicz, Franz

Date

1881

Size

19.5 x 24 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Art and Design Library

Toshogu shrine is the main attraction in Nikko, a small town located about 125km north of Tokyo. This mausoleum is dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. This gate was the subject of many early photographs and is still visible today.

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 picture is delicately hand tinted with yellow, blue, red and green paint highlighting the most delicate details.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Roofs

Places > Asia > Japan

Religion > Religious facilities > Shinto shrines