Kura - Kawa - Kahai, prefect of Simoda.

A striking portrait of five Japanese men from Simoda. The lithograph was created after the daguerreotype Eliphalet M. Brown Jr. made during the American navy expedition between May 1853 and August 1854. Brown exposed about 400 daguerreotypes during this expedition. Nineteen of them were translated into lithographic images, published in 1856 by the US Congress. This portrait is printed by Sarony & Co. in New York, one of four different publishers.

This is an interesting example of the less formal images with casually posed people portraying cultural details [Bruce T. Erickson, 2008].

image ca. 15,3 x 22,4 cm
album page ca. 29,1 x 21,8 cm

ca. 1856

Literature: Sebastian Dobson; Japan on a Glass Plate, The Adventure of Photography in Yokohama and Beyond 1853-1912, Ludion (p.7, p.198)