Study day "Diplomatic gifts from Japan to European countries (1856-1864)", November 28

Monday, November 28, 2022 - 09:00-18:00 - Auditorium Dumézil
Inalco, Maison de la recherche - 2, rue de Lille - 75007 Paris

Interventions in French and English.

Diplomatic gifts offered by Japan to European countries (1856-1864)

This study day will bring together museum curators and academics to reflect together on paintings, lacquerware, porcelain, textiles and other objects offered by the Japanese government to European countries (Great Britain, France, Netherlands, Prussia, Russia and Portugal) between 1856 and 1864, as part of nascent diplomatic relations. Created by the finest artists and craftsmen in the service of the shogunate at the end of the Edo period, these luxury objects belong to the great tradition of gifts intended for members of the Japanese military elite or the kings of Korea. They are welcomed in the same social universe, but with a different culture, that of European sovereigns.

This study day aims to go beyond the framework of bilateral relations between Japan and any particular country in which these objects have been located until now. The various papers will compare the transformations and changes in material and status that these diplomatic gifts underwent on their arrival in Europe and thereafter: displayed in reception rooms or study cabinets, donated to museums of decorative arts or ethnography, transformed to suit the taste of their user, or simply forgotten. We will also look at their context of creation and their status in Edo period Japan, notably through comparison with gifts offered by Japan to Korea, between the 17th and 19th centuries.

This study day follows on from rediscoveries made at exhibitions in Lisbon (2018), Fontainebleau (2021) and London (2022) and as part of research projects in Japan, notably led by the National Museum of Japanese History.

Diplomatic gifts from Japan to European countries between 1856 and 1864

This study day will bring together museum curators and academics to reflect on paintings, lacquerware, porcelain, textiles and other objects offered by the Japanese government to European countries (Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Prussia, Russia and Portugal) between 1856 and 1864, in the context of emerging diplomatic relations. Created by the best artists and craftsmen working for the shogunate at the end of the Edo period, these luxury objects belong to the high tradition of gifts intended for members of the Japanese military elite or the kings of Korea. They were received in the same social milieu, but with a different culture, that of the European sovereigns.

This study day aims to go beyond the framework of bilateral relations between Japan and one or another country in which these objects have been located until now. The various papers will compare the transformations and changes in material and status that these diplomatic gifts underwent on their arrival in Europe and afterwards: displayed in reception rooms or study cabinets, donated to museums of decorative arts or ethnography, transformed to suit the taste of their user, or simply forgotten. We will also look at the context of their creation and their status in Edo period Japan, in particular by comparing them with the gifts offered by Japan to Korea between the 17th and 19th centuries.

This study day follows on from the rediscoveries made in exhibitions in Lisbon (2018), Fontainebleau (2021) and London (2022) and in the context of research projects in Japan, notably led by the National Museum of Japanese History.


Speakers:
Daan Kok, Museum of Ethnography, Leiden
Rachel Peat, Extra-European Collections, Royal Collection Trust, London, curator of the exhibition currently on view at Buckingham Castle
Alexandra Curvelo, New University of Lisbon
Lesley Richardson, Royal College of Art / V&A
Rosina Buckland, British Museum
Estelle Bauer, Ifrae/Inalco
Laure Schwartz-Arenales, Fondation Baur, Geneva


PROGRAMME

8:45am - 9:15am - Accueil / Reception

<9:15am - Introduction, présentation de la journée / Introduction, presentation of the day
by Estelle Bauer

Session chair: Lyce Jankowski, Musée de Mariemont

9:30am - 10:30am - Alexandra Curvelo, New University of Lisbon
Japan in Ajuda Palace: the gifts from the Taikun to King D. Luis in 1862 and 1864

<10:30 - 11:30 am - Daan Kok, Museum of Ethnography, Leiden
Material misunderstandings: Reception of Japanese diplomatic gifts in the Netherlands

<11:30 - 11:45 am - Pause / break

Session chair : Vincent Droguet, sous-directeur des collections, direction des patrimoines, Ministère de la Culture

11:45am - 12:45pm - Rachel Peat, non-European collections, Royal Collection Trust, London.
'Pass the Parcel': The Display and Dispersal of Gifts to Queen Victoria from the Japanese Court, 1860, 1862 and 1864

12:45 - 2pm - Déjeuner / Lunch

Session chair : Lia Wei, Inalco / Ifrae

2pm - 3pm - Rosina Buckland, British Museum
The Gifts from the Taikun or how did the 1860 paintings travel (and others afterwards)
("Gifts from the Tycoon: The journey of the 1860 paintings (and some after))

3:00pm - 3:30pm - Lesley Richardson, Royal College of Art / V&A Collaborative Doctoral candidate
The significance of the gifts in the context of the V&A's early collections of Japanese material

3:30pm - 3:45pm - Pause / break

Session chair : Alice Bianchi, Université Paris Cité / CRCAO

<15:45 -16:30 - Estelle Bauer, Ifrae/Inalco
Typology of the gifts presented by the bakufu to European and Korean sovereigns
(Typology of the gifts presented by the bakufu to European and Korean sovereigns)

4:30pm - 5pm - Hidaka Kaori, National Museum of Japanese History
The Gifts presented by the he 1860 Japanese Embassy to the United States

17h- 17h45 - General discussion / wrap up discussion
With the participation of Vincent Cochet, château de Fontainebleau, and Laure Schwartz-Arenales, director of the Fondation Baur, Geneva

5:45pm - 6:30pm - Vin d'honneur