George Washington in Japanese costume. Attributed to Miyagawa Kozan (1842-1916), 1883 or earlier. Glazed earthenware or porcelain. Metropolitan Museum of Art collection [4000×3650]
George Washington in Japanese costume. Attributed to Miyagawa Kozan (1842-1916), 1883 or earlier. Glazed earthenware or porcelain. Metropolitan Museum of Art collection [4000×3650]
[Attributed to Makuzu Kōzan | (Miyagawa Toranosuke) (1842-1916)
Benjamin Franklin in Japanese Costume, 1865-83
Glazed earthenware
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883, 83.2.275
George Washington in Japanese Costume, 1880-83
Glazed earthenware
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883, 83.2.140
Kōzan moved his ceramic production from Kyoto to the bustling port of Yokohama in the early 1870s to take advantage of the great influx of foreigners, vowing to “make export ceramics to increase the wealth of the country and to become famous here and abroad.” Books and pictures from the first half of the Meiji period indicate the curiosity in Japan about Washington, Napoleon III, and other foreign political figures. Realistic Japanese portraits of foreign sitters in kimono were also popular at the time. It is plausible that this earthenware pair of founding fathers could have hung at a shop or in another establishment frequented by foreigners. The family crest on Washington’s robe suggests his equivalency to the Tokugawa shogun, and Franklin, in his typical fur hat, is shown in formal kamishimo attire as Washington’s vassal.]
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https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/3972
[display description including a companion piece depicting Benjamin Franklin, Asia Society Museum loan](https://i.ibb.co/LkrVh1P/20231020-155553.jpg)
[Attributed to Makuzu Kōzan | (Miyagawa Toranosuke) (1842-1916)
Benjamin Franklin in Japanese Costume, 1865-83
Glazed earthenware
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883, 83.2.275
George Washington in Japanese Costume, 1880-83
Glazed earthenware
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of William H. Huntington, 1883, 83.2.140
Kōzan moved his ceramic production from Kyoto to the bustling port of Yokohama in the early 1870s to take advantage of the great influx of foreigners, vowing to “make export ceramics to increase the wealth of the country and to become famous here and abroad.” Books and pictures from the first half of the Meiji period indicate the curiosity in Japan about Washington, Napoleon III, and other foreign political figures. Realistic Japanese portraits of foreign sitters in kimono were also popular at the time. It is plausible that this earthenware pair of founding fathers could have hung at a shop or in another establishment frequented by foreigners. The family crest on Washington’s robe suggests his equivalency to the Tokugawa shogun, and Franklin, in his typical fur hat, is shown in formal kamishimo attire as Washington’s vassal.]