Jo Girin

JO GIRIN (Japan, 1779-1859).
"People of all nations".
Watercolor on paper.
Signed.
They were part of a makimono.
Measurements: 28.5 cm. height (different widths).

Set of ten watercolor and ink paintings on paper that were part of a Japanese hand scroll, known as makimono. This format was very popular in the Edo period to tell stories or present collections of images.

They depict couples or small family groups from various parts of the world, dressed in their characteristic costumes. This collection of images reflects the curiosity and view of foreign cultures in Edo-period Japan. Nagasaki, the port where Jo Girin worked, was one of Japan's few points of contact with the outside world, which fostered a genre of art centered on depicting foreigners, their ships and customs.

We note, among the portraits, a European couple, probably Dutch, based on their clothing. The Dutch were the only Europeans allowed to trade in Japan during much of this period, through the Dejima trading post in Nagasaki.

Also, several pairs appear to represent different peoples of Asia (possibly from China, Korea or Southeast Asia).

Groups with distinctive dress and features illustrate the artist's attempt to catalog the diversity of the world's nations according to the knowledge of the time.

Calligraphic inscriptions next to the figures probably identify the nation or region they represent.

Jo Girin was a Japanese painter active in Nagasaki in the early 19th century, during the late Edo period. He was an artist of the "Nagasaki school," known for his paintings and prints depicting foreigners, especially Dutch and Chinese merchants residing in the city. This genre is known as Nagasaki-e. His work is a valuable historical testimony to the Japanese perception of the outside world during the sakoku, the period of national isolation. "People of All Nations" is one of his best known works and a representative example of his subject matter. The original scroll was much longer and is said to depict as many as twenty-four different nations. His works are in museum collections such as the British Museum. He is considered one of the great visual chroniclers of the Edo period.