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'Heron on a Willow Branch'. Two-panel folding screen painting by Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795), 1775.<br/><br/> Maruyama Okyo (June 12, 1733 - August 31, 1795), born Maruyama Masataka, was a Japanese artist active during the Edo period. He founded the Maruyama school of painting, which mixed Western naturalism with Eastern decorative design.
'Pair of Pheasants'. Hanging scroll painting by Maryuama Okyo (1733-1795), late 18th century.<br/><br/> Maruyama Okyo (June 12, 1733 - August 31, 1795), born Maruyama Masataka, was a Japanese artist active during the Edo period. He founded the Maruyama school of painting, which mixed Western naturalism with Eastern decorative design.
Japan: 'Ichikawa Ebizo IV as Takemura Sadanojo in the Play Koinyobo Somewake'. Woodblock print by Toshusai Sharaku (active 1794-1795), 1794. Tōshūsai Sharaku is widely considered to be one of the great masters of woodblock printing in Japan. Little is known of him, besides his <i>ukiyo-e</i> prints; neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known with any certainty. His active career as a woodblock artist seems to have spanned just ten months in the mid-Edo period of Japanese history, from the middle of 1794 to early 1795.
Otto IV (1175-1218) was the third son of the rebellious Duke Henry the Lion, as well as being the nephew and foster son of King Richard Lionheart of England. He was born and raised in England by Richard, and therefore many consider him the first foreign king of Germany. When Emperor Henry VI died in 1197, some of the princes opposed to the Staufen dynasty elected Otto as anti-king in 1198.<br/><br/> Otto's election sparked a civil war between himself and Philip of Swabia, brother of Emperor Henry and true claimant to the crown of Germany. Otto's forces were initially victorious, but his situation eventually worsened and by 1207, Philip had all but won. His sudden murder a year later changed things considerably however, with Otto quickly becoming the recognised King of Germany, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor by 1209.
James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th President of the United States (1845–49). Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–39)—the only president to have served as House Speaker—and Governor of Tennessee (1839–41).<br/><br/> Polk was the surprise (dark horse) candidate for president in 1844, defeating Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party by promising to annex the Republic of Texas. Polk was a leader of Jacksonian Democracy during the Second Party System.
The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 16th through to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of those enslaved that were transported to the New World, many on the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, were West Africans from the central and western parts of the continent sold by western Africans to western European slave traders, or by direct European capture to the Americas.<br/><br/> The numbers were so great that Africans who came by way of the slave trade became the most numerous Old World immigrants in both North and South America before the late 18th century. Far more slaves were taken to South America than to the north. The South Atlantic economic system centered on producing commodity crops, and making goods and clothing to sell in Europe, and increasing the numbers of African slaves brought to the New World.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century.<br/><br/> His political philosophy influenced The Enlightenment in France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the overall development of modern political and educational thought.
George Adams, the Younger (1750 - 1795), son of George Adams (c. 1709 - 1773), was the author of a number of influential scientific works, including <i>Essays on the Microscope</i>, <i>Astronomical and Geographical Essays</i> and <i>Lectures on Natural and Experimental Philosophy</i>. He was also a globe maker.
Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753 - October 31, 1806) was a Japanese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga.<br/><br/> He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 in Edo – 24 February 1825 in Edo), also often referred to as Toyokuni I to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his <i>gō</i> (art-name) after he died, was a great master of <i>ukiyo-e</i>, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints.<br/><br/> He was the second head of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who really moved it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century.
James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th President of the United States (1845–49). Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 13th Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–39)—the only president to have served as House Speaker—and Governor of Tennessee (1839–41).<br/><br/> Polk was the surprise (dark horse) candidate for president in 1844, defeating Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party by promising to annex the Republic of Texas. Polk was a leader of Jacksonian Democracy during the Second Party System.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese artist and Ukiyo-e woodblock print master.<br/><br/> He is widely recognized as the last great master of Ukiyo-e, a type of Japanese woodblock printing. He is additionally regarded as one of the form's greatest innovators. His career spanned two eras – the last years of Edo period Japan, and the first years of modern Japan following the Meiji Restoration. Like many Japanese, Yoshitoshi was interested in new things from the rest of the world, but over time he became increasingly concerned with the loss of many aspects of traditional Japanese culture, among them traditional woodblock printing.<br/><br/> By the end of his career, Yoshitoshi was in an almost single-handed struggle against time and technology. As he worked on in the old manner, Japan was adopting Western mass reproduction methods like photography and lithography. Nonetheless, in a Japan that was turning away from its own past, he almost singlehandedly managed to push the traditional Japanese woodblock print to a new level, before it effectively died with him.
Guan Yu (-220 CE), style name Yunchang, was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei in the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor.<br/><br/> As one of the best known Chinese historical figures throughout East Asia, Guan's true life stories have largely given way to fictionalised ones, most of which are found in the historical novel 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' or passed down the generations, in which his deeds and moral qualities have been lionised. Guan is respected as an epitome of loyalty and righteousness.<br/><br/> Guan was deified as early as the Sui Dynasty and is still worshipped by many Chinese people today, especially in southern China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and among many overseas Chinese communities. He is a figure in Chinese folk religion, popular Confucianism, Taoism, and Chinese Buddhism, and small shrines to Guan are almost ubiquitous in traditional Chinese shops and restaurants.
Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753 - October 31, 1806) was a Japanese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga.<br/><br/> He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
A balloon is conceptually the simplest of all flying machines. The balloon is a fabric envelope filled with a gas that is lighter than the surrounding atmosphere. As the entire balloon is less dense than its surroundings, it rises, taking along with it a basket, attached underneath, which carries passengers or payload.<br/><br/> Although a balloon has no propulsion system, a degree of directional control is possible through making the balloon rise or sink in altitude to find favorable wind directions.
Samurai is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.<br/><br/> The samurai followed a set of rules that came to be known as Bushidō. While they numbered less than ten percent of Japan's population, samurai teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in martial arts such as Kendō, meaning the way of the sword.
John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his work only having been in publication for four years before his death.<br/><br/> Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his life, his reputation grew after his death, so that by the end of the 19th century he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience of his life.<br/><br/> The poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analysed in English literature.
Rigobert Bonne's decorative map of China, Korea (Corea), Japan and Formosa (Taiwan). The arera covered extends from Tibet and Chinese Tartary east to Japan and south to Hainan.<br/><br/> China is divided into various provinces with major cities, lakes, and riverways noted. Names Macao, Canton, Nanking (Nanjing), Jedo (Tokyo), Peking (Beijing) and many other cities.<br/><br/> The lower right quadrant is decorated with an elaborate title cartouche showing a Chinese scholar or monk relaxing with a bird in a forest under a parasol. Drawn by R. Bonne c. 1770 for issue as plate no. 35 in Jean Lattre's 1776 issue of the Atlas Moderne .
Sandalwoods are medium-sized hemiparasitic trees. Notable members of this group are Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) and Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum). Others in the genus species have fragrant wood. These are found in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, Indonesia, and the Pacific Islands. In India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka it is called Chandan.<br/><br/> The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades
Holi is a Hindu spring festival, also known as the festival of colours or the festival of love. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, and other regions of the world with significant populations of Hindus or people of Indian origin.<br/><br/> Holi is celebrated at the approach of the vernal equinox, on the Phalguna Purnima (Full Moon). The festival date varies every year, per the Hindu calendar, and typically comes in March, sometimes February in the Gregorian Calendar. The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships, and is also celebrated as a thanksgiving for a good harvest.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Horse, around noon. An apprentice delivers a letter to her mistress, who is ready to have her hair styled. The courtesan takes a quick look at the letter while filling her pipe. Her young assistant takes the opportunity to look in the mirror and adjust her own hair.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the hour of the Ox, which begins around two o’clock in the morning. In the sleeping house, the courtesan is suddenly awakened by a call of nature. Still sleepy, she awkwardly puts on her straw sandals, arms herself with a roll of paper and a candle and goes to the bathroom.
Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753 - October 31, 1806) was a Japanese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Dog, around 8 o’clock in the evening. In the salon in the front part of the house, a courtesan is writing a letter to one of her clients and whispers something in the ear of the young assistant who waits attentively by her side.
Ichikawa Omezou (市川男女蔵) in the role of Yakko Ippei (奴一平).<br/><br/> Tōshūsai Sharaku (東洲斎 写楽, active 1794 - 1795) is widely considered to be one of the great masters of the woodblock printing in Japan. Little is known of him, besides his ukiyo-e prints; neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known with any certainty. His active career as a woodblock artist seems to have spanned just ten months in the mid-Edo period of Japanese history, from the middle of 1794 to early 1795.
A portrait of the English philosopher and poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), most famous for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. Coleridge was a member of the Lake Poets who, with his friend William Wordsworth, founded the Romantic Movement in England. He also helped introduce German idealism to English-speaking culture and was influential on American transcendentalism (via Ralph Waldo Emerson). Throughout his adult life, Coleridge suffered from crippling bouts of anxiety and depression, which he chose to treat with opium, becoming an addict in the process. He died at age 61 due to symptoms typical of prolonged opium usage.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Dragon and the alarm rings for the residents of the house. It is time to wake up but the two apprentices, still drowsy from lack of sleep, steal a few extra moments of rest.
Katsukawa Shunchō (勝川 春湖) was a Japanese designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints, who was active from about 1783 to about 1795.<br/><br/>Although a student of Katsukawa Shunshō, Shunchō's output, which consists mostly of prints of beautiful women, more closely resembles the work of Torii Kiyonaga.<br/><br/>Shunchō also designed many shunga prints, which also resemble those of Torii Kiyonaga.
Emperor Ingyō (允恭天皇 Ingyō-tennō) was the 19th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 410–453.<br/><br/> Emperor Ingyo's empress is named Oshisaka no Ōnakatsu no Hime in the Japanese annals. Princess Sotori Hime was the concubine of the Emperor Ingyo, so named for the beauty of her skin which seemed to radiate through her robes. Later accounts associated her with the deity Tamatsushima Myojin, enshrined at Wakanoura in Kii Province, and venerated her as one of the three gods of poetry together with Kakimoto no Hitomaro and Yamabe no Akahito.<br/><br/> According to the <i>Nihon Shoki</i> written in 720, Princess Sotori lived in seclusion in the Fujiwara Shrine out of deference to the Empress. The Emperor decided to visit her there in secret, but even before he arrived the Princess had divined that he was coming by noticing a spider building its web in the roots of a dwarf bamboo plant.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Sheep, around 2 o’clock in the afternoon. It is early and still quiet in Yoshiwara; customers are few and far between. At the extreme left of the composition, we can see a book and divination sticks placed on a square fabric. This detail suggests the presence of a soothsayer about to offer his predictions to the courtesan. During this consultation an apprentice amuses herself by reading the lines on the palm of the young assistant.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> The Hour of the Tiger is around four o’clock in the morning. Feeling hungry, a courtesan cooks a light snack on a brazier. She warms her shoulders with the coat of her client. Another courtesan also awake, joins her in moment of intimacy and friendly conversation
Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753 - October 31, 1806) was a Japanese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Dog, around 8 o’clock in the evening. In the salon in the front part of the house, a courtesan is writing a letter to one of her clients and whispers something in the ear of the young assistant who waits attentively by her side.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Dragon and the alarm rings for the residents of the house. It is time to wake up but the two apprentices, still drowsy from lack of sleep, steal a few extra moments of rest.
Katsukawa Shunchō (勝川 春湖) was a Japanese designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints, who was active from about 1783 to about 1795.<br/><br/>Although a student of Katsukawa Shunshō, Shunchō's output, which consists mostly of prints of beautiful women, more closely resembles the work of Torii Kiyonaga.<br/><br/>Shunchō also designed many shunga prints, which also resemble those of Torii Kiyonaga.
William Henry Low (1795 – March 22, 1834) was an American entrepreneur, businessman and trader from Salem, Massachusetts, who was one of the American pioneers of the Old China Trade.<br/><br/> In 1828, having settled in Canton (Guangzhou), China, Low was admitted as a partner of the Russell & Co. trading company, as a replacement chosen by founding partner Philip Ammidon. Senior partner of the firm, he retired in 1833 after having recruited his nephew, Abiel Abbot Low. He died in the Cape of Good Hope the following year while returning home in the company of his wife, Abigail Low, and niece, the diarist Harriet Low
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> The Hour of the Monkey is around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Before the start of the night shift, it is time for the parade of courtesans of the highest rank in Nakanocho, the central artery of Yoshiwara. The courtesan here, belonging to this elite, appears in all her sumptuous attire. She is escorted by an apprentice courtesan.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the hour of the Hare, around six o’clock in the morning. A courtesan holds a customer’s coat as he prepares to go home. This coat is adorned with a valuable lining embellished with a portrait of Bodhidharma (Japanese: Daruma), the patriarch of the Zen sect, painted by an artist of the Kano school, Suzuki Rinsho (1732 – 1803).
Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753 - October 31, 1806) was a Japanese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Boar, around ten o’clock in the evening. This scene takes place in a banquet room of the house. The courtesan, very dignified, holds out ceremoniously a cup of sake to a customer. In striking contrast her young assistant, leaning on the sake kettle, can no longer resist her fatigue at this late hour and falls asleep.
The Konbaung Dynasty was the last dynasty that ruled Burma (Myanmar), from 1752 to 1885. The dynasty created the second largest empire in Burmese history, and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of modern state of Burma. The reforms proved insufficient to stem the advance of the British, who defeated the Burmese in all three Anglo-Burmese Wars over a six-decade span (1824–1885) and ended the millennium-old Burmese monarchy in 1885.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Snake, around ten o’clock. An apprentice indulges the courtesan, her mistress, by offering a bowl of tea as she finishes her bath.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> The hour of the Rat corresponds roughly to midnight. This is the moment that the courtesan puts on her night attire to join her client in bed, while her apprentice carefully folds the dress she wore earlier to attend the banquet.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> At the Hour of the Cock, around 6 o’clock in the evening, the night shift begins in the Green Houses. A courtesan has been summoned by a client. She is led by an employee of the establishment, who illuminates her path with a lantern.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the hour of the Hare, around six o’clock in the morning. A courtesan holds a customer’s coat as he prepares to go home. This coat is adorned with a valuable lining embellished with a portrait of Bodhidharma (Japanese: Daruma), the patriarch of the Zen sect, painted by an artist of the Kano school, Suzuki Rinsho (1732 – 1803).
Kitagawa Utamaro (ca. 1753 - October 31, 1806) was a Japanese printmaker and painter, who is considered one of the greatest artists of woodblock prints (ukiyo-e). He is known especially for his masterfully composed studies of women, known as bijinga. He also produced nature studies, particularly illustrated books of insects.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Boar, around ten o’clock in the evening. This scene takes place in a banquet room of the house. The courtesan, very dignified, holds out ceremoniously a cup of sake to a customer. In striking contrast her young assistant, leaning on the sake kettle, can no longer resist her fatigue at this late hour and falls asleep.
The Konbaung Dynasty was the last dynasty that ruled Burma (Myanmar), from 1752 to 1885. The dynasty created the second largest empire in Burmese history, and continued the administrative reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty, laying the foundations of modern state of Burma. The reforms proved insufficient to stem the advance of the British, who defeated the Burmese in all three Anglo-Burmese Wars over a six-decade span (1824–1885) and ended the millennium-old Burmese monarchy in 1885.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the hour of the Ox, which begins around two o’clock in the morning. In the sleeping house, the courtesan is suddenly awakened by a call of nature. Still sleepy, she awkwardly puts on her straw sandals, arms herself with a roll of paper and a candle and goes to the bathroom.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> At the Hour of the Cock, around 6 o’clock in the evening, the night shift begins in the Green Houses. A courtesan has been summoned by a client. She is led by an employee of the establishment, who illuminates her path with a lantern.
Tōshūsai Sharaku (東洲斎 写楽, active 1794 - 1795) is widely considered to be one of the great masters of woodblock printing in Japan. Little is known of him, besides his ukiyo-e prints; neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known with any certainty. His active career as a woodblock artist seems to have spanned just ten months in the mid-Edo period of Japanese history, from the middle of 1794 to early 1795.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the hour of the Hare, around six o’clock in the morning. A courtesan holds a customer’s coat as he prepares to go home. This coat is adorned with a valuable lining embellished with a portrait of Bodhidharma (Japanese: Daruma), the patriarch of the Zen sect, painted by an artist of the Kano school, Suzuki Rinsho (1732 – 1803).
Katsukawa Shunchō (勝川 春湖) was a Japanese designer of ukiyo-e style Japanese woodblock prints, who was active from about 1783 to about 1795.<br/><br/>Although a student of Katsukawa Shunshō, Shunchō's output, which consists mostly of prints of beautiful women, more closely resembles the work of Torii Kiyonaga.<br/><br/>Shunchō also designed many shunga prints, which also resemble those of Torii Kiyonaga.
Rigobert Bonne's 1771 decorative map of the Arabian Peninsula. Covers from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. Includes the modern day nations of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.<br/><br/> It names Mt. Sinai, Mecca and Jerusalem as well as many other cities and desert oases and also notes numerous offshore shoals, reefs, and other dangers in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. There is a large decorative title cartouche in the upper right hand quadrant. Drawn by R. Bonne in 1771 for issue as plate no. A 25 in Jean Lattre's 1776 issue of the Atlas Moderne.
Maruyama Ōkyō was a Japanese artist of the Edo Period who specialised in painting in a traditional Chinese style combined with Western elements such as perspective. This features in 'Portrait of a Chinese Beauty' with the use of reflection (albeit rather inaccurately rendered) in the mirror.
Japan: 'Portrait of Actor Sawamura Sojuro III in the Role of Kakogawa Honzo'. Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Katsukawa Shun'ei (1762-1819), 1795.<br/><br/> Katsukawa Shun'ei (1762 - 13 December 1819), real name Isoda Shun'ei, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist from Tokyo. He joined the Katsukawa school of ukiyo-e artists, and mainly designed <i>yakusha-e kabuki</i> portraits, though he also dabbled in <i>musha-e</i> warrior prints and prints of sumo wrestlers. He became head of the Katsukawa school in 1800.
During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), the Japanese clock was divided into twelve units of time, or ‘hours’, with each one named after one of the zodiacal symbols of the lunar calendar, and with the day being divided up into six daytime hours and six night-time hours.<br/><br/> This woodblock print is taken from Kitagawa Utamaro's 1794-1795 <i>ukiyo-e</i> series 'Twelve Hours of the Green Rooms', sometimes styled 'Twelve Hours of the Yoshiwara', featuring everyday events in the lives of courtesans in Edo's Yoshiwara pleasure district.<br/><br/> It is the Hour of the Snake, around ten o’clock. An apprentice indulges the courtesan, her mistress, by offering a bowl of tea as she finishes her bath.
The Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) was a complex of three large gardens. It was built during the Qing dynasty for Emperor Qianlong (1711 - 1799). The palace and gardens were seriously damaged by Anglo-French troops in 1860 after the Second Opium War, and again during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Little is left today.
The Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) was a complex of three large gardens. It was built during the Qing dynasty for Emperor Qianlong (1711 - 1799). The palace and gardens were seriously damaged by Anglo-French troops in 1860 after the Second Opium War, and again during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Little is left today.
The Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) was a complex of three large gardens. It was built during the Qing dynasty for Emperor Qianlong (1711 - 1799). The palace and gardens were seriously damaged by Anglo-French troops in 1860 after the Second Opium War, and again during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Little is left today.
The Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) was a complex of three large gardens. It was built during the Qing dynasty for Emperor Qianlong (1711 - 1799). The palace and gardens were seriously damaged by Anglo-French troops in 1860 after the Second Opium War, and again during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Little is left today.
Emperor Seiwa (清和天皇 Seiwa-tennō, 850–878) was the 56th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Seiwa's reign spanned the years from 858 through 876.<br/><br/> Shuncho Katsukawa was born in Edo and was a pupil of Shunsho Katsukawa. Shuncho is famous for his prints of actors and bijin, beautiful women. After 1795 Shuncho Katsukawa gave up printmaking and became a writer of novels. This woodblock print of Fujiwara Sadayori is from his series: 'One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets'.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.
'Landscape with Waterfall'. Handscroll painting by Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795), 18th century.<br/><br/> Maruyama Okyo (June 12, 1733 - August 31, 1795), born Maruyama Masataka, was a Japanese artist active during the Edo period. He founded the Maruyama school of painting, which mixed Western naturalism with Eastern decorative design.
John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his work only having been in publication for four years before his death.<br/><br/> Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his life, his reputation grew after his death, so that by the end of the 19th century he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience of his life.<br/><br/> The poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analysed in English literature.