Southern Barbarians in Japan

Object Details

• Label

  From the mid-sixteenth century until 1639, Portuguese traders based in the port of Nagasaki imported Chinese goods to Japan because the Ming government had banned direct commerce between China and Japan. Accompanying the Portuguese merchants via secured territories in Goa, Macao, and the Philippines were missionaries from Portugal, Spain, and Italy who were highly educated bearers of broad information about Western learning.

  Initially, the Japanese authorities did not wish to jeopardize the essential silk trade with China and so tolerated the annoyance of Christian proselytizing. In time, the Iberians were supplanted by religiously neutral Dutch traders, who provided the necessary access to China, and missionaries were formally expelled in 1614. The Portuguese trade mission, however, survived until 1639.

  Screens like these, showing the arrival of a Portuguese ship to Nagasaki and a promenade full of visitors, were created for the most part between 1590 and 1614. Such screens are rare; only sixty or so of these so-called namban, or "southern barbarian," (a Japanese term for foreigners), screens are currently housed in collections around the world.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Traveler's Eye: Scenes of Asia (November 22, 2014 to March 31, 2015)

  Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries (June 24 to September 16, 2007)

  Surveying the Collections: Poets and Parties (July 2, 2000 to February 4, 2001)

  Japanese Lacquer (April 16, 1979 to October 8, 1980)

  Japanese Ukiyo-e Painting (May 2, 1973 to July 1, 1974)

  Japanese Art—Painted Screens (August 18, 1967 to May 2, 1973)

  Japanese Art, Galleries 3, 4, and 5 (January 1, 1963 to September 16, 1970)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1600s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings