Celebrating Thirty Years of East Asian Collections

These items were used by students of Dr. Magdalena Kolodziej’s course “Japanese Art, 1600 to the Present.” The course interrogated the relationship between art and its socio-political context, and examined the critical question of representation and power, as well as art historical writing on Japan and the reception of Japanese art in the U.S. To apply the knowledge and skills gained in the course, each student chose a piece of realia held in our collections and provided a visual description of its material qualities, traced its provenance, contextualized its production in Japan, and analyzed its subsequent reception in the U.S.

Ogata, Gekkō, The Manners and Customs of Ladies (Fujin Fūzokuzukushi 尾形月耕, 婦人風俗尽). Tokyo: Matsumoto Heikichi, Meiji 31 東京:松本平吉, 明治31 [1898].   Edward James Parrish Papers. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Produced in Japan around 1900 for the export market, this book of woodblock prints portrays the daily life of elite women in Japan. The Parrish Papers collection is also comprised of letters from the owner of this book, Rosa Parrish.  When the student researched the book, she also contextualized it by reading letters from Parrish to her friends in the United States, which included her reflections on daily life in Japan. 

Gi-Yoshimitsu, Japanese Imperial Naval Officer's sword, Japan, [1400 BCE], Robert L. Eichelberger Papers, Box 130, Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

This Japanese Imperial Naval Officer sword was given to General Robert L. Eichelberger during the American Occupation of Japan in the late 1940s.  The Duke student described its distinction as a naval officer sword (“the hilt distinguishes the Japanese Imperial Naval Officer Sword from an army officer sword in that it does not feature any side pieces with various emblems on the backstrap”) and, in tracing the provenance, read letters documenting that General Eichelberger received seven swords as gifts.  When examining the sword carefully, the student also discovered it mostly likely came from Miyoshi, who wrote to Eichelberger “that he was handing over two swords; this one was appraised by a sword expert as Gi-Yoshimitsu’s make of the Ashikaga Period” (about 1400).