|
58 CHATELAIN, H. Succession des Empereurs du Japon… / Vue et description de la Ville de Meaco Capitale du Japon… Amsterdam, 1720. Deux planches. Bon état. - Two plates, in good condition. 380 x 438 mm.
|
|
Two plates from his "Atlas Historique". One plate (pag. 168) is showing in top the murder of one of the Medieval Emperors of Japan and the arrival of one of the early Dutch embassies in Kyoto with a small map of Japan in a central panel.
The other plate (page 172) with in top part the town of Meaco (Kyoto) at that time the capital of Japan, with a coach and horses in the foreground. Other insets with the town of Osaka and the island of Deshima, the Dutch settlement from where the Dutch were permitted to trade with Japan.
This bird's-eye view of Deshima is copied from an illustration in the book by Montanus (1669). The island is depicted from the land-side. We see to the right, where a broad flight of steps leads to the sea, two sets of doors standing open. This is the Watergate. In the centre at the bottom the guardhouse is visible, the Landgate. The bridge on the print must still be the wooden drawbridge, as the stone bridge dates from 1678. The two streets which cross here will soon become a T-junction. Close to the Land-gate stands the "venditiehuisje", or Auction House, where the goods for sale were set out. This building was paid for by the Dutch factory. The fire proof warehouses Doorn and Lelij, built in 1666 and 1672, are not yet visible here, so the situation as depicted here must date from before 1666. The Company garden is as yet small and the flower beds circular. The residence from which plumes of smoke are rising is the central kitchen.
|
