Large Format Photo of Heinrich Ahrens group taken at Shinomiya Shrine in Kobe
[Japan] Impressive, very large photo showing Heinrich Ahrens (1842-1886) with his family and relative/colleague along with Japanese nannies and servants outside a shrine in Kobe. The caption appears to read, 'Sho-no-miya Kobe in Mai 1881' in German, but Sho-no-miya is most likely Shinomiya, a shrine in Kobe that was destroyed by fire in 1905 and rebuilt. Ahrens is standing on the left and his wife, Hermina, is sitting near him with a toddler next to her who is presumably their son, Johann (1879-1953) and the baby right next to Ahrens on the lap of a (mostly likely Chinese) amah would be their 4-month-old daughter, Christina (1881-1974). Ahrens arrived in Japan in 1867 and worked for Gutschow & Co. in Yokohama before starting his own import-export company in 1869 in Yokohama. He opened a branch in Kobe in 1876. Jakob Winckler worked for Ahrens before establishing his own business. Ahrens died of cholera in Yokohama in 1886 and is buried there.
Photographer unknown. May 1881. 28.7 x 23.6cm.
In good condition. Mounted on paper. Some age wear and darkening to mount. Spotting on rear but photo itself is very good. p36011544
