Ambrotype Photo of Young Girl in Okinawan Kimono Rare, sharp image
[Japan] Very interesting ambrotype photo of a young girl wearing what appears to be a Ryukyu-patterned kimono. She is standing next to an intricately carved stand which has a bonsai on top. The stands were used for the sitter of the photo to hold in order to minimise any movement while the photo was taken. If this photograph was taken in Okinawa, as the girl's kimono indicates, it would be extremely rare. Of course it may have been taken elsewhere in Japan. The outside of the wooden box is inscribed, 'Portrait' and 'Gift' and then 'Uemura Tsuya', which is presumably the girl's name. Interestingly, the inside of the box contains the following in Japanese and is dated 1944, 'I inherited this photo of my mother at a young age that she kept and I found'. The old backing paper coloured black is actually an old newspaper remnant and there is a date of 1880 (Meiji 13) in an article so the photo was obviously taken sometime after that.
Photographer unknown. c1880.
Photo itself 7.8 x 5.5cm.
In good condition. Some marks on the glass but these may have occurred during or soon after the photograph was made. Box is original and very good with faint (unreadable) photographer's stamp on edge. p34121315
