Kurohune, An Alien Vessel
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Shotei produced a wide range of subjects throughout his career under publishers Watanabe and Daikokuya. Signed, sealed lifetime editions consistently outperform unsigned export-market copies.
The "black ships" of Commodore Matthew Perry's 1853 squadron — steam-powered warships whose dark hulls and smoking stacks were unlike anything Japanese observers had seen — made one of the most dramatic entrances in modern history when they arrived in Edo Bay. Shotei's print depicts the alien vessels with the curiosity and aesthetic engagement that Japanese artists brought to the shock of Western technology, the vessels rendered in careful detail against the bay and sky that framed Japan's forced opening to the modern world.
Woodblock print
Hansen, yoru
1926
Color woodblock print
1915
Color woodblock print
Hansen, asa
1926
Color woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Kurohune, An Alien Vessel was created by Takahashi Shotei (高橋松亭).
Kurohune, An Alien Vessel was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Kurohune, An Alien Vessel depicts boats & ships.
