[Japan: ca. 1854-55].

An impressively assembled scroll that portrays the second American expedition to Japan (February-March 1854), led by Commodore Perry; much of it is focused on the American vessels that anchored menacingly off the coast. Seven of the nine ships in the American fleet are carefully portrayed, with notes on the estimated numbers of cannons and crewmembers. Steam-powered ships, with black smoke gushing from the stacks and rows of powerful cannons, shocked the Japanese, most of whom had never seen such a demonstration of advanced military technology. The observations in this scroll must have been crucial to inform the... More