Les Perles, Mandchoukuo

"The Pearls, Manchukuo" depicts a subject from the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (1932–1945) in northeastern China, part of Jacoulet's series documenting the peoples of Japanese-controlled territories. The title suggests a figure adorned with pearl jewelry — almost certainly a woman, likely from a wealthy Manchu or Han Chinese background, posed in the elaborate dress of the region. The print would showcase Jacoulet's facility with elaborate textile pattern, the carvers articulating embroidery, brocade, and pearl strings through dozens of separate blocks. The pearls themselves required specific technical handling — typically printed in low-relief gauffrage to suggest spherical volume, sometimes with mica or pearl-essence to capture iridescence. Jacoulet's Manchurian prints reflect the political geography of his career, as Japanese imperial expansion gave him access to regions otherwise difficult for a French national to visit. As with his Korean and Chinese subjects, the print balances admiring portrayal of regional dress with the documentary impulse that ran through his work, recording specific costume traditions during a period of intense political and cultural disruption in East Asia.