Fan (Uchiwa; Dansen)

From card: "cylindrical bamboo handle finely split into thin strips to spread into a semi-square shape onto which are glued the paper surfaces. front painted, all over with a shore scene, of men carrying two women on the shoulders from boats to the shore, with others bringing in other possessions. in tan colors against the blue water. several inscriptions on it. back two ropes with men and women on each, as if were pulling a boat into shore? plus inscriptions. two breaks in the edge near the bottom. loaned to the naval historical foundation 3/11/75. loan returned from naval historical foundation 4/7/77."

The woodcut artist of the prints on the obverse and reverse of the fan are by the great ukiyo-e master, Utagawa Hiroshige I.

This fan was collected by Commodore Mathew Perry during his Japan Expedition (1853-1854) that brought an end to Japan's two centuries of self-imposed isolation from the western world, beginning a lasting diplomatic, economic and cultural relationship between two Pacific Rim nations. The objects collected from that expedition became the founding items of the Smithsonian Institution's anthropology collections. The objects collected from that expedition became the founding items the Smithsonian Institution's anthropology collections. See Chang-Su Houchins. 1995. Artifacts of Diplomacy: Smithsonian Collections from Commodore Matthew Perry's Japan Expedition (1853-1854). Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, Number 37. P 80 and 81