Martha Smith Collection of Stereographs and Postcards

43 stereographs from the early twentieth century were produced by the Underwood & Underwood Studio depicting various scenes and people from Meiji Japan, 3 stereographs from the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris, France, and two black and white postcards from Japan. Specific Japanese locations depicted include: Yokohama; Mississippi Bay and the Mikado Cliffs; Tokyo; Mt. Haruna, Ikao; Kyoto; Hiroshima; Lake Chuzenji.

The cards were most likely assembled by Ms. Smith's father, A. Hyatt Mayor (1901-1980), art historian, writer, and Metropolitan Museum of Art Curator of Prints from 1946-1966.

Underwood & Underwood was an early photographic studio who produced steroscopic and photographic images from 1881 to the 1940s. Founded in Ottawa, Kansas by brothers Elmer Underwood and Bert Elias Underwood, the studio worked in Ottawa, Baltimore, and New York City. They sold box sets of photographs and set up distribution offices throughout the world. Underwood & Underwood covered major news events like the Boer War and the Great War.

FSA A2002.02

Underwood & Underwood

Mayor, A. Hyatt (Alpheus Hyatt), 1901-1980

Underwood & Underwood Studios

Exposition universelle de 1867 à Paris

Meiji, Emperor of Japan, 1852-1912

Japan -- 1900-1910

Donated by Martha Smith, 2002

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Stereographs

Postcards

Martha Smith Collection of Stereographs and Postcards. FSA.A2002.02. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

0.5 linear foot

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Stereographs

Postcards

Collection is open for research.