Japan – Geisha Girl with Fan
Yokohama, Japan: c 1885. Hand-tinted albumen print, 10 1/2 x 8 inches (268 x 204 mm), hand-numbered 1103 in negative. Unmounted; housed in an archival mat with clear mounting corners.
An elegant and serene studio portrait of a young geisha holding a fan and wearing a precious kimono.
Baron Raimund von Stillfried (1839 – 1911) was an Austrian military officer and early professional photographer in Japan. His historical photographs of Japan following the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in the 1870s have been appreciated for their documentary and artistic value and collected in international archives. After leaving his military career, Stillfried traveled to South America and China, and on to Yokohama, Japan, in 1864. Early on Stillfried worked with Felice Beato who had established the first photography studio in Japan, but in 1871, he opened his own, and within one year partnered with Hermann Andersen to form Stillfried & Andersen (also known as the Japan Photographic Association) which operated until 1885. In 1877, Stillfried & Andersen bought the studio and stock of Felice Beato.
Similar to Felice Beato, Stillfried was one of the leading photographers in Japan during the 1870s. He is known for his portrait photography and, like Felice Beato, also made numerous genre and landscape photographs. Such images, which showed carefully staged genre scenes with people from foreign cultures as well as pictures of trips to regions and sights formerly unknown outside of Japan, were popular souvenirs for foreign residents or visitors. These images, often produced in high numbers and as hand-coloured albumen prints, have become rare and valuable over time. In addition to his own photographic activities, Stillfried trained many Japanese photographers. In 1876, he sold the larger part of his stock to his protégé, the Japanese photographer Kusakabe Kimbei, and left Japan forever in 1881.
Condition: Very good.
Item number: 1778
Price: $500.00
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